


Dreams and Nightmares

by manateehugger



Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-04-01 11:33:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 35,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4018183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manateehugger/pseuds/manateehugger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gregor is married to Laisa Toscane and they have three children together. But Gregor finds an old nemesis just isn't ready to let go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Dr. Elbina Merot took a cheek swab from the surly teen in front of her before packaging it up and sending it out for genetic testing. 

“How long do I have to stay here,” the teen asked in irritation.

“Listen little miss, there are thousands of people here who are homeless and starving and looking to us for help. You are damned lucky to be receiving any kind of treatment,” Captain Hephaestus of the United Galactic Federation informed the teen primly.

“Then they can have my spot, I want my grav tank back,” the girl declared.

She, like many other children, had been swept up in the civil war on Bovakia. The UGF had been allowed in only a few weeks ago to help in the rebuilding of the planet after the religious extremist group Augustine’s Hand was finally crushed by the centralist government’s coalition. While Augustine’s Hand was vilified as a terrorist group out to murder and enslave anyone who didn’t follow their strict teachings, Dr Merot did not doubt that atrocities had been committed on both sides. Hence the reason why the UGF was allowed in only after the leaders of Augustine’s Hand had all ‘committed mass suicide’. 

But the goal of the UGF and the goal of the doctor was not to cause further trouble just now by accusing the current leaders in power of war crimes. The goal was to stabilize the planet, provide aid where necessary and encourage a return to a reasonable standard of living which was free of violence and oppression. Part of this involved locating any and all living relatives of the multitude of orphaned children on the planet. 

“We have been over this miss, you do not own a grav tank. That weapon belongs to the centralist government and it is a war crime to allow a minor to pilot much less use that weapon in combat. Are you accusing the centralist government of committing war crimes,” Captain Hephaestus demanded.

“I’m accusing you and your cohort of being a pack of thieves. I stole that tank fair and square, and I achieved my rank of captain on the battle field and you can ask any of my men if you want proof,” the girl declared angrily.

Dr Merot sighed as she watched the facial vein on Captain Hephaestus pulsate. She knew the UGF captain was not a bad fellow and under less trying circumstances he would realize how silly it was to get into a shouting match with this stubborn girl.

“So you are accusing the centralist government of committing war crimes by forcing underaged citizens to fight their wars,” the captain demanded.  
Merot knew the man was a father with small children. Likely he wasn’t angry with the girl but with this situation. They all were.

The teen stewed and fixed the captain with a death glare, “no sir, I am not saying that. Can I go back to my room now please or were you looking to do a more thorough exam?”

The captain frowned at the implication of this question.

“Yes, I’m sure they’ll be serving dinner soon. Why don’t you get something to eat Xiomara,” Dr Merot interjected with a soft smile. 

The captain gave a nod to one of his subordinates who led the girl off towards the children’s dormitories.

He paused a moment before sending for the next child to be tested.

“You know I will be happy for more than one reason if we can find guardians for these kids.”

 

Gregor Vorbarra suppressed another yawn as he sat on the couch, Crown prince Xav satnext to him and prince Petya sat on his lap. They were watching early morning animations on the holovid. Gregor was somewhat seriously considering a formal decree that required children’s shows to be shown at later times during the weekend so beleaguered parents could have some time to sleep in. 

Well at least one of them was allowed to sleep in as is, Gregor reflected. Of course Empress Laisa had been up the night before with princess Kareen, the baby had managed to get a cold despite the maids constantly sanitizing the nursery.

“Da, is he going to be ok,” Petya asked worriedly.

Gregor turned his attention back to the vid just in time to watch the hero’s mentor fall dramatically off a cliff. The scene then cut to the hero screaming dramatically and reaching down in futility.

Honestly, had children’s programs always been this violent?

Petya’s large eyes were already watering. Tears were threatening to spill over.

“Yes, I’m sure he’ll be just fine,” Gregor assured his second son.

“I don’t know, that was a very big cliff,” Crown prince Xav noted with a frown.

“Perhaps he had some antigrav boots on,” Gregor suggested, still trying to avoid early morning tears. He needed to make a note of the producers for this series and politely suggest a means of survival for the mentor. 

Petya seemed mollified by this and settled back against Gregor in order to watch the rest of the episode in which one of the villains had his hand chopped off. Fortunately it was only a robotic hand. 

Gregor was half dozing when a nervous knock at the door roused his attentions. 

A palace guard, Alyosha, a new fellow, stood at the door. He had a flimsy in hand.

“Is something wrong Alyosha,” Gregor asked, his mind floating to a host of problems from a declaration of war by the Cetagandans to changes in seating arrangements for the upcoming state dinner. No Gregor decided, if it was war Alyosha wouldn’t be standing here nervously. He’d be hyperventilating at the least. 

Poor fellow.

“Sire, I have a message which was received only a few minutes ago,” Alyosha stated coming forward, arm outstretched as if he were carrying a dangerous serpent.

Gregor accepted the flimsy patiently.

He read it and slowly, calmly removed Petya from his lap and stood up.

“I’m afraid I have to go handle some matters, I’ll send Mira in until I get back,” Gregor promised already signaling for one of the guards to retrieve the Lady of the chambers.

“But Da, you’re going to miss the best part,” Xav noted.

“You can tell me all about it later. I’ll return as soon as possible,” Gregor promised. 

They were good little Vor and understood the importance of duty so they didn’t argue with their emperor father as he headed down the hall for clarification.

He moved to his private commconsole and called Guy Allegre. The man was in the office despite it being the weekend. Apparently he had received the missive as well. 

There is no such thing as a private life for the emperor, Gregor thought. He crushed that self pity as quickly as he could, there was no time for that.

“General,” Gregor said taking a breath in before plunging forward, “how seriously do you take this message from the UGF?”

Allegre shook his head, hesitated, then spoke, “it took us by surprise here as well. I’m sending agents on Bovakia to investigate further. We plan to extract the girl and confirm the genetic testing that was done.”

A royal bastard, Gregor thought rubbing his head. 

Allegre was silent, though a question played across his lips.

A question that no one would dare ask directly of the emperor. 

Did you have an affair?

No, Gregor reasoned, considering the girl’s age no one would ask that. She was too old to have been produced while he was married to or even courting Laisa. No one rational would consider that. Though heaven knew there were plenty of irrational individuals among the vor.

Cordelia was forever stating that the entire vor system was a grand illusion, a mass hallucination.

Is she your daughter?

A pix was present on the formal letter of a girl with long blonde hair and dark eyes. 

His mother’s eyes.

Gregor blinked and reminded himself he had to be rational.

If the girl was his, and this implied a great deal, then he needed more definitive proof. He had to suspend judgment until he was certain she was his child and this was not some elaborate scheme. Though who would be insane enough to try and con an emperor, well, he could think of a few people.

If this girl was his, with that blonde hair… there could be only one mother. 

Bovakia was a planet at war with itself. Cavilo had always thrived on conflict, especially as a way of getting what she wanted. Would it be so surprising if she’d met her end on Bovakia and had left behind a child? Knowing Cavilo perhaps she had simply decided to leave the child behind or was using the girl as bait. 

“Yes, this seems the most reasonable course. Please keep me informed,” Gregor stated cutting the comm.

He glanced at the chrono wondering if he ought to gently wake Laisa up and inform her of this news now or wait until she was better rested.

Boy, there will never be a point where one is rested enough to hear about a surprise child. Go speak with her, if she hasn’t come to her sense and run screaming into the night already she likely won’t do it now.

He rubbed his face and climbed the stairs to go speak with her.


	2. Chapter 2

Xio brushed past and through the underbrush, cursing silently that she’d left her motorbike far behind. She’d left Bovakia some weeks ago. Now that it was over run with UGF and people trying to ship her off to who the hell knew where she had decided it was a good idea to leave. 

She was on Frost II now, hiking towards an abandoned reactor. If she’d known how sparsely the secret police would be guarding the damaged reactor she would have just rode the damn motorbike. Instead she’d spent the last five hours hiking through the dense forest in a breath mask and oversized backpack to reach the entrance to this place. 

But she was interested and the group who was paying her to break in was generous. She needed the cred now as her funds were running low. She’d liberated a relatively paltry sum of money from the UGF’s coffers. She hadn’t stolen it of course, she was merely taking what she was owed for the gravtank that they’d unceremoniously confiscated from her. That had been enough to buy her a ticket off planet anyway but now she had to figure out what to do next.

Frost II was a planet with a parliamentary based democracy, a universal health care system and a decent rating on freedom of speech and social tolerance on the galactic scale. That did not stop Joren Berget, a Frostian scientist and by all accounts reasonable man, from choosing to blow reactor 6 one day. 

It was unclear why the man chose to willfully place heat sensitive explosives in key locations around that reactor in order to cause it to blow during a technical experiment one clear summer day. Jorgen died in that explosion and was never forced to deal with the toxic radiation which managed to seep out of the building and wreak havoc on the local populace. The mad scientist had supposedly left behind a diary to explain his decision. Rumor had it that it was still buried on a data disk in Jorgen’s old locker. That was what the group wanted Xio to retrieve for them. They were hoping Jorgen had left an explanation, and perhaps further instructions. This group was what most people would call “bat shit crazy cult members”. 

But Xio didn’t care.

She’d jumped at the idea of visiting the reactor. She had a special fondness for spooky and solitary locations. Of course she could also be tempted to help with a sob story, but she didn’t advertise that fact.

Besides her breathmask, bike and full body suit she also carried an illegal plasma arc on the small of her back, because why not? If the secret police was going to shoot at her then she was going to shoot back.

The reactor itself wasn’t very large on the surface, but Xio knew that it went down for a mile below the planet’s crust. 

The gamma fences which had initially been set up and which had likely been in use until radioactive disaster were down. It was just a matter of picking her way across the clearing to one of the entrances to the building. 

With a key card obtained from the rebel group Xio entered. 

The antechamber was much smaller and drabber than she had expected. The relative filth of the place came as no surprise. Xio noticed the presence of a security cam droid which crept out from behind a desk. It was likely the desk of the security team who had been in charge of letting the right people in. Only they had screwed up by letting Jorgen in.

 

Xio studied the little security droid which measured less than a foot in height and which beeped happily at her. The little robot moved slowly, much like a cat does when it’s been abandoned in the woods for some time and once more comes into contact with people. The cat knows it doesn’t belong in the woods, that to survive it needs to be taken back into civilization, but it’s now wary of people and the possibility of further abandonment.

Xio took out her plasma arc and shot it. No telling if anyone was around to check its cam feed, or worse, perhaps the little bot was uploading to an off site system with a real time desk jockey monitoring the situation. 

Still, she didn’t turn around. Even if the desk jockey was on to Xio it would take time to send someone over to shoot or arrest her. 

Xio moved through the corridors. They looked bland and nondescript, metal reinforced by lead. It looked similar to the insides of a space ship, Xio decided. A space ship in disrepair anyway.

Emergency lights still functioned, unsurprising since the generators were never turned off even after the de-contamination crews left. It gave the place an eerie glow and sent delightful shivers up Xio’s back. 

Xio checked her holo-map, the one she’d gotten from the cult and moved to one of the lifts. She forced the doors open with a handy little tool called ‘the battering ram’. Unlike the old Earth battering ram which was used to break open the doors of castles by invaders and required a dozen or so strong men to carry it this little device only required the push of a button to electrically jump start the doors and force them open. 

With the doors opened Xio set up her belay line and lowered herself down. 

She wasn’t worried about the radiation, though she was likely getting huge doses of it now. At least she would be if not for the skin tight suit she wore under normal clothing and in addition to her mask. The suit, made by the Betans, was capable of stopping most forms of ionizing radiation and was sold specifically for nuclear disasters and subsequent clean up. Xio had not gotten this from the cult who had hired her. It was a present to herself, which she had commandeered from a Betan arms dealer. 

She traveled down into the depths of the building to the bottom floor where the boring beige of the walls gave way to concrete and the more absorptive metals of this planet which were used to collect the radiation which the plant constantly produced but didn’t want to leak to the general public. Once there she attached another ‘battering ram’ which opened that set of doors and allowed her to enter into a puke green hallway. Xio examined the walls a moment before deciding that someone had deliberately painted the walls this color. 

As if the symptoms of acute radiation sickness weren’t vague enough: headache, nausea, stomach pain and decreased consciousness could all be brought on by this atrocious decorating. There must have been a consistent skeleton staff present at all times and yet they’d likely avoided spending time down here because of this.

Not only was the color scheme done by a sadist but the hallways themselves were narrow such that if two people met going in opposite directions one would undoubtedly have had to press themselves against the wall to let the other by. 

I get it, Xio thought, the architect must have hated reactors and sought to punish the workers.

She smirked at the idea.

She also paused to check the flickering signs, written in Hainan. She headed down one final flight of stairs. At the bottom the hallway bifurcated. Both directions looked similar, metallic and only just beginning to rust. It still looked like the inside of a space ship, albeit a dinghy one. She passed through one final door and walked out unto a catwalk underneath which sat a lake. Well, more of a pool really. The water, which was a brilliant blue, the likes of which you’d see on only the brochures of travel magazines, sat unmoving and seemingly undisturbed. 

The flood lights placed in the water made Xio think of an indoor swimming pool. She liked swimming. 

Though playing in that water would kill a person.

It reminded her vaguely of the myth of the Greek Sirens, women who sat on the rocks and sang to sailors, causing them to head towards their deaths. 

The water was used to absorb the heat and stop the radioactive core from melting.

Xio noted that the water levels were below a long red mark along the back wall. 

The core itself sat caged like an animal at the bottom of the pool, though it seemed the water was only inches above the top of its cage. 

No wonder the group had been so antsy to see that these artifacts be recovered now. The problem with the radioactive cores obtained from this planet was that they reacted so energetically, even violently to the point where they could actually explode. To stop this the core was immersed in water which was used to absorb the excess energy given off by the core. This energy turned the water into steam which powered the turbines which were connected to a generator which gave all the good little citizens here there power. Until of course the day it didn’t. 

Still, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this, Xio thought. She gazed a while longer at the scene before heading down a corridor to the control room. 

Up a flight of stairs and Xio reached a long, wide room with dozens of vid screens and even more controls along it. 

It was known that one of the researchers had realized there was a problem during the test and had tried to stop it. Jorgen had been there to deal with her, and the rest of the team. 

The government had felt that pix of the massacre in the control room were too lurid for the general public. 

Still, as Xio looked around the room she didn’t notice any blood or bodies.  
No, those would have been taken away and likely burned or placed in a lead coffin. No way those radioactive bastards would have had any say in the matter. Of course they were dead at that point so it was just a question of getting the families to stop complaining. 

Xio looked up at the screens which were black now. She ran her fingers across the key boards to see if she could get a response from the machines.

To her disappointment they didn’t come to life and she knew she didn’t have enough power in her energy packs to play with them. 

Still, there was always reactor 6 to look at she decided. The numbers were painted on the doorways and so it was simple for Xio to find the way.

She opened the door into yet another rusting metal corridor. 

The difference being that there was no light from the emergency power along this way. The blast from the reactor had blown all of them. 

Xio flipped on her own maglight.

She noted that the ceiling pipes were more exposed here and that some of them leaked. Patches of the walls were missing for no discernible reason.

There were rumors that Jorgen didn’t die immediately from the explosion. That he’d actually lingered on. There were complaints from the clean up crew that things went missing in this tunnel. Not merely tools but whole suits and larger equipment too. Even more interesting is that sometimes the crews would find these items in areas before they’d been fully cleared. As if someone were there, watching them and just one step ahead.

There’d been several accidents too.

Debate was still open as to whether it was Jorgen’s ghost causing this, whether the mad scientist lived on or whether the workers merely had vivid imaginations.

Xio admitted that the idea of a mad scientist, still alive and working on his next project had the most appeal. She enjoyed news articles and fictional stories about psychopaths. She had a certain infatuation with the horror genre. 

So there was a certain pleasure in the terror she felt when she heard something faint in the distance. Xio moved to investigate, flashing her light in the direction of the sound and moving towards it.

Xio felt her own plasma arc weigh heavily as it pressed into her back and wrapped one hand around it, just in case. 

Down the hallway Xio moved with just her maglight to guide her.

The sound grew louder. 

It was persistent, like someone walking slowly towards her.

Closer and closer.

Until it was right on top of her. Literally. Xio looked up to see that it was a bare light, still attached by wire to its power source but no longer functional. It hung freely and clacked against the ceiling as a gust of centralized air blew through. 

Strange what the mind did, Xio decided.

She traveled back along the main corridor and towards reactor 6. 

Unlike the rest of this hallway the door to the reactor looked newer and more solidly built compared to the rest of the area. It must have been placed after the explosion. No doubt more in an effort to keep nosey individuals out rather than to keep anything in. The door was hell to get up and Xio ended up burning a hole through it with her plasma blade.

The lights had been blown in this room as well so Xio had only the maglight to go by. 

Unlike the serene look of the previous reactor room which had superficially appeared untouched by the destruction, this room looked hellish in comparison. Rather than clear blue water that might be seen in a tropical paradise, the water used for this reactor was a murky brown. It was from the ageepa, a substance used to soak up the plutonium pieces of the shattered core and tamp down, to a modest degree, the amount of radiation which was being leaked out in an uncontrolled manner. It was just the right color to hide a predator in, Xio decided. 

More intriguingly there were the foot prints present here. Brown footprints, which seemed to be from bare feet, were present on the gray metallic floor. 

Fascinating.

“Dr Berget? Dr Jorgen Berget? If you’re still alive, I just wanted to inform you that I’m a big fan of your work,” Xio called out experimentally. 

Xio admitted to herself that it would have been beneficial if she could see the whole room. Wouldn’t it be interesting if the mad scientist really was still alive and holding out down here, plotting some new, more grandiose horror?

It fascinated Xio immensely. Not that she would actually assist him, she knew well enough that mad scientists and serial killers did not make good friends. They were wild animals, meant to be appreciated at a distance. One could admire a tiger at the zoo, but it was a different matter when the animal was loose in one’s home.

In truth if she actually saw him she’d shoot first, then shoot some more until she was sure he was dead. 

Xio’s comment was met with silence. 

Xio waited a moment more, before turning to go back.

She then traveled back towards the control room, back through the initial reactor room and up several flights of stairs before reaching an employee changing room. The one she’d been asked to search. 

Xio hadn’t needed to search the reactors for Jorgen’s things. That was merely something she’d been interested in.

She popped Jorgen’s locker with nothing more than a descrambler for the lock, a paltry excuse for security really, and rifled through the man’s things. 

There were several data disks that she took from the locker and placed in her bag, but no paper books or other items. 

Xio wondered vaguely and with some amusement whether she ought to take the dead man’s old underwear and try to sell it. Surely some idiot fanatic would pay a price for them.

Xio decided to leave the underwear, but took a souvenir for herself. The glasses of the dead man.

An odd thing to need in a society where uterine replicators and limited eugenics was allowed. Certainly they could have prevented any astigmatism beforehand, and Jorgen hadn’t been so old when he offed himself in order to need glasses, XIo thought.

Xio looked through them and smiled to herself. 

They did nothing to alter her vision. They were fake, and presumably worn as an accoutrement and means of looking intellectual rather than as a tool. 

So despite your rants about creating about the ubermensch and not accepting the values of others for the sake of it, you still dressed yourself up to impress others. Well wasn’t that just typical?

Xio pocketed the glasses and their case and moved back to her belay line by the elevators. She clipped herself in and allowed the system to do the work for her.

She mentally checked visiting a haunted power plant off of her bucket list. Well, not even haunted really. Aside from the exposed light bulb there hadn’t been anything scary down there. 

Honestly, if people were going to claim that there was an undead scientist walking the grounds, murdering people they could at least have –

Xio’s thoughts were interrupted as she pulled herself up unto the main floor. Xio was just able to see up, onto that floor when two very large hands grabbed her wrists, forcefully pulling her up. 

She sprawled forward unto the floor and looked up into the faces of several men in containment suits of their own. Among them was a small figure.

“Xiomara, darling, I’ve been looking all over for you,” the small figure said sweetly.

Nothing scary down there, but there was someone very scary up here.

“Hello mother, long time no see,” Xio said coolly.

Xio felt the weight of her plasma arc in the small of her back but acknowledged silently she’d never have a chance to draw it.


	3. Chapter 3

It was only two weeks, but it felt much longer before Xiomara and her mother arrived on Jackson’s Whole. They were currently in one of House Fell's hotels foroff-world traders. This was despite Xio’s sarcastic suggestion that they should head to Beta Colony instead for some serious family therapy. 

“Xiomara I know you must be displeased with this turn of events,” her mother began.

Xio rolled her eyes, “though unsurprised. Remember when you said we were going to happy funland and you sent me to that military boarding school on Nuevos Brasilia?” 

“The one you ran away from so you could go play and do whatever the hell it is you’ve been doing the past year and a half,” Cavilo asked, flashing her teeth in something that didn’t quite pass for a smile.

“It was boring and stupid,” Xio defended.

Cavilo’s lips thinned, “I’d hoped you would finally learn some discipline that school. Clearly I wasted my money.”

“Why do I need discipline? So I can follow your orders and be your good little soldier,” Xio asked.

Cavilo snorted, “Forget that, I have a role for you which will be much bigger than that. But only if you can prove yourself.”

Xio moaned, “can’t you just accept that the things you enjoy aren’t things I like? I just want to have fun.”

“I want to have fun too darling, but on a grander scale,” Cavilo said.

“Yeah but my idea of fun is petty larceny and trespassing. Your idea is blowing up a planet and enslaving the survivors. That’s just a little too much for me,” Xio complained.

“It’s an acquired taste,” Cavilo allowed.

“Maybe I don’t want to acquire it,” Xio complained.

“Xiomara, for once could you think of someone besides yourself,” Cavilo demanded.

“No, and I doubt that you could teach me how,” Xio shot back.

Xiomara knew that she shouldn’t be sassing her mother in this way. She knew that Cavilo had a philosoph of ‘if you don’t occasionally shoot a crewman people start to forget that you’re in charge’. So really she was playing with a pre-activated thermonuclear device when she talked to Cavilo. 

Of course she was also a serious adrenaline addict so Xio couldn’t help but enjoy it.

So why were they here? What was House Fell famous for, again, Xio wondered. She didn’t exactly read the news while she was out joining foreign wars or trespassing on abandoned property. 

Xio glanced at her mother, who would undoubtedly be disappointed that Xio hadn’t known what House Fell specialized in already. But it wasn’t like they’d seen any clones… did they also specialize in assassins? Was her mother sending her for further training? What else was there… hostage negotiations, gambling… hm the sex slave trade was probably rampant in all the groups and no surprise there were customers in each district enough to go around, she bet. 

Cavilo heaved a sigh and paced their hotel room. Cavilo was clearly psyching herself up for another award winning performance, Xio decided watching this.

“Xiomara… you are very young. But perhaps… perhaps you’ll understand me when I say that once upon a time a man, your father, broke my heart. I have spent every day for the past seventeen years trying to find a way to get even with him. And I’ve found it,” Cavilo said.

Xio burst into laughter, completely ruining her mother’s solemn acting.

“I’m sorry, what,” Xio asked.

She stifled her laughter as her mother turned to glare at her. 

“Am I such a monster that you think I’m incapable of love,” Cavilo demanded looking wounded.

“Come on mama, how many hearts have you broken and men have you destroyed over the years? Now you’re going to play the wounded woman card? Let me guess, the reason your like this is all because of him, right,” Xio asked.

“I know you’ve been curious about your father,” Cavilo said impatiently.

Xio raised an eyebrow, “not since you told me he was the late, unlamented Baron Ryoval. Though we did learn that was a lie. I stopped worrying about who my father was, it’s not relevant now anyway considering how I’m an adult and don’t need a caretaker anymore.”

Cavilo considered this response but kept her own emotions muted, “Your father is royalty. I met him while he was running from his responsibilities, like the scared boy that he was. So lost, so afraid. I loved him, and when he had taken all he could from me. When he learned to walk on his own two feet again he cast me forcibly out of his presence. He told me that he couldn’t love a commoner.”

Cavilo bit out the last word as if she were spitting out poison.

“If he made such a big deal about your differences in class then it sounds as if you are better off without him then. Come on mama, stupidity is its own punishment,” Xio said.

Xio remembered reading the ancient earth story of Cinderella. She wondered how things went after the wedding when she knew that the prince must be fully aware that he had saved Cinderella from a life of servitude with a few simple words. Did he throw that back in her face when they fought? Did he remind her how easy it would be for him to send her back and find another girl? People, Xio knew, were very dangerous when they had all the power on their side and knew it. Her mother relished in it and took pleasure from the idea of being able to kill a man with a word. Xio wondered if her royal father was the same way. Not that she ever intended in finding out.

“So what? So you wasted seventeen years of your life seething over some bratty royal and now you’re planning revenge,” Xio demanded.

Cavilo smirked, “not merely any royal my dear, a ruling emperor. He is lord Gregor Vorbarra, the emperor of Barrayar, Sergyar and Komarr.”

Xio raised an eyebrow, “isn’t Sergyar still dealing with that worm plague thing? Isn’t it revenge enough that he ahs to deal with a worm plague. That’s nasty.”

“They have it under control from my understanding, no thanks to his work,” Cavilo declared.

“So you plan to what? Kill the emperor and steal his throne? I mean not only does that sound like a bad idea because lets face it, you’re not really good at dealing with people but how are you going to get on the throne? You’re a woman, I’m a woman, neither of us can hold any kind of political office. Unless… are you getting a sex change?”

“No dear, that wouldn’t change anything since I don’t have the emperor’s blood running in my veins,” Cavilo noted coyishly.

The blood in Xio’s face promptly drained away.

“This is a terrible idea mother,” Xio explained.

“Don’t worry Xiomara, I’ll make certain the effects on you are minimal,” Cavilo promised.

Of course Xio knew how much worth her mother’s promises held. Hell’s bells I couldn’t sell your promise even if I offered up a free kidney with it. 

“Being a man would be horrible! Nobody wants to be a man, not even men if they had any sense! Did you know that sperm travels at a speed of like a million miles per hour, can you imagine how awkward masturbating must be for men? It’s like ‘oh I’m busy doing my business’ and suddenly ‘oh shit, the ceiling is covered in my genetic material’.” Xio gesticulated wildly in an attempt to convey concern.

Cavilo raised an eyebrow.

“Consider nocturnal emissions! It’s like you went to sleep dry and wake up to find you’ve wet the bed like some little kid! Don’t even get me started on awkward boners and sports injuries,” Xiomara continued.

She was about to list further impediments to being a man when Cavilo glanced at her chrono and interrupted.

 

Cavilo smiled, “why don’t I show you my secret weapon before we continue this conversation. Then I won’t have to listen to your silly counter arguments.”  
Cavilo wheeled on her heel and headed for the door. Xio followed curiously. 

The descended back to the lobby of the well maintained hotel and traveled just outside to be picked up by a colorful tram. It reminded Xio a little of Holopix she’d seen of the amusement park Super Happy Funland with its own colorful forms of transportation and cartoon automatons which wandered the park hugging children and taking pix with visitors. 

Except Xio knew they weren’t going on any amusement park rides. They traveled for fifteen minutes with a driver who grunted a greeting to them. Xio tried to make small talk with him as Cavilo sat in a brooding silence. But the driver either didn’t understand her or didn’t want to deal with her because he refused to respond or look at her as they made their way to their destination. There were few cars on the street. Xio wasn’t sure if that’s because they were well locked up in a parking facility or because few of the proles or grubbers could afford vehicles. Their driver muttered something under his breath when they left. He was either wishing them a good day or cursing them out. She couldn’t tell.  
They entered entered an antechamber within a non-descript building where several guards stood by. The guards looked like they knew how to handle themselves and looked as if they’d shoot you before smiling at you. Xio did not try to make small talk with them. 

Cavilo flashed an identification badge and they allowed her through after a quick scan. A keeper, a tall muscular man who seemed less hospitable than the frozen tundras of Frost IV led them into a lift. When they got off Xio and Cavilo followed their keeper down beige hall. It looked similar to one you might see on a college campus in say the library or one of the research buildings. The doors looked like they could keep people out or in as need be. 

They came finally to a door that was open. Xio peered in as her mother entered. The room was filled with books and hand-scanners. In the center of the room was a large wooden desk. Behind this desk a sat a man who appreared to be pudgy and middle aged; he also had a bald patch developing on top of his head. Xio thought he looked a little like a beleaguered professor who was stuck at the office late grading students’ papers. 

“Commander Cavilo,” The man asked getting up to shake the hand of Xio’s mother.

“Dr. Jameson, I was told you’ve completed my order,” Cavilo said shaking his hand.

“Yes… are you here for a demonstration,” he asked anxiously.

“Well of course. I want to make sure I’m getting what I paid for,” Cavilo said with a smile that didn’t touch her eyes. 

Dr Jameson frowned, presumably at the suggestion that his work could in some way be subpar. 

“I do have a time lapsed vid if you’d like to see that, or perhaps you’d like to see me infect an animal and you can come back when it’s dead,” Dr. Jameson said.

“Will that take long,” Cavilo asked. She seemed as if she already knew the answer.

“With the mice, it typically takes seven days or so. They are resilient creatures,” Dr. Jameson explained.

Cavilo considered this, her lips pursed like a famished woman looking at a restaurant menu.

“Let us see the time lapsed vid then, I want to see how well my pathogen is going to work,” Cavilo said. 

They moved into a windowless conference room with a dark green carpeted floor and a projector up. After a few minutes of fiddling with the commconsole the doctor pulled up a vid which he started.

“As per your request, your pathogen, which I have dubbed Jametria zenith is a virus that,“ Jameson began.

“Doctor, I would like to see my pathogen at work. I did not ask for your thesis dissertation,” Cavilo stated.

Dr Jameson shut up and started the vid.

It began with a group of mice in a cage, similar to one you might obtain from a pet store with woodchips along the bottom and cheerful looking toys. A sudden shadow was briefly cast over the animals, like an ominous cloud blocking out the sun. At first nothing seemed to happen, the gloved hand neither descended to grab the animals nor did it seem to drop anything noxious into the cage. It withdrew and the mice seemed to carry on normally playing, eating and drinking as they had done before. One of them slammed into a wall, then another. As the animal pulled back it left a bloody stain along the wall. They began to scream sharp, loud cries of pain as more of them ran, disoriented and violently into walls. The woodchips became covered in bright crimson blood that dulled to brown. The noises stopped and the animals lay dead in their cage. A gloved hand reached in and removed one animal, silently showing off the blood dripping from the nose, the eyes and the mouth. 

“I’m going to go ahead and voice the reaction of all sensible people in the room when I say, what the fuck is wrong with you,” Xio demanded turning to the doctor.

“I was only doing what I was told to do… and I did follow proper animal care procedures by giving them toys and housing them in a group,” Dr Jameson defended. He looked angry and a little ashamed by the accusation.

“Xiomara, you’re being silly. What do you care about a few mice,” Cavilo said dismissively.

“I think they have more value than some people I’ve met,” Xio said angrily.

Cavilo seemed to consider this, “some people are lower than rodents, lower even than cockroaches. But I digress. Thank you Dr. Jameson this was interesting. Does it work that well in people?”

“The incubation time will be a bit shorter, perhaps four to five days before major necrosis of the lungs becomes evident. But that just means it will be able to spread further before people catch on,” Dr Jameson explained.

“Do you have a demonstration,” Cavilo asked with interest.

“What would it matter if he did? Doesn’t Vorbarra already have a wife and legitimate children? I’m sure the Barrayaran people are going to back a Barrayaran raised child over a foreigner any day, consider all of their xenophobia,” Xio pointed out.

“Were you not paying attention to our little demonstration? That pathogen is aerosolizable, and my men are heavily armed. If one thing doesn’t kill them then another will until you are the only heir left,” Cavilo said.


	4. Chapter 4

They were several floors down in another windowless little room with a different man in a white coat. A Doctor Kevosh, who spoke directly to Cavilo and barely acknowledged Xio as she sat half naked on an exam table surrounded by five of her mother’s armed guards. 

The operatory was clean and mostly stainless steel. Aside from the doctor himself there were two techs present who followed the doctor's orders exactly and never made jokes, questioned him or acknowledged anyone else. They looked right through Xio. But Xio saw the scars on their foreheads. Well looks like lobotomies are in vogue here, she thought uneasily as she watched them shuffle about attending to their duties. 

“Are you sure he’s qualified for this procedure,” Xio asked uneasily.

“Dr. Kevosh was originally Betan and trained there until he was chased off planet,” Cavilo explained.

“Chased off,” Xio asked.

“He had a nasty problem of killing his patients,” Cavilo explained, she watched Xio’s reaction with some amusement.

“Some of them weren’t fit to live,” Dr. Kevosh said in annoyance as if he shouldn’t have to defend his life choices to them.

“I don’t want to do this,” Xio said from the exam table. 

“Well sweetheart, sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do,” Cavilo said reasonably. 

“Yes, but when people make that statement it’s because they don’t want to go to their creepy uncle Phil’s birthday party. It is not an enforced sex reassignment surgery,” Xio pointed out.

“You’re not going to make a big deal out of this, are you,” Cavilo asked. She looked ready to order one of her men to stun Xio to avoid any complications. 

“The injection isn’t even the painful part,” the doctor reassured unreassuringly.

“I would be a terrible man, I don’t know anything about bathroom etiquette. Like is it ok to talk to each other in the bathroom like girls do? Do I really just unzip and take it out to do my business or is that a fashion thing? Maybe I have to completely drop my pants, I don’t know,” Xio declared.

“Those are hardly the questions you should be focused on,” Cavilo stated, unamused.

“You know I’ll never get any respect on Barrayar if I don’t make a convincing man. Why can’t you just seduce a count or something to your cause,” Xio asked.

“I’m not stupid. Of course I’ve already made certain that they’ll accept you. You’ll have the backing you need when the time comes. Just think of ways to get rid of the emperor and claim your rightful place,” Cavilo said soothingly.

“We start off with this injection to begin the process of sexual reassignment, then follow it up with the anesthesia. It shouldn’t take more than a few hours,” Dr Kevosh explained to no one in particular. He busied himself by loading up a syringe with something then he flicked it to remove some of the bubbles.

“My rightful place? Can’t I do something else, like maybe I want to be a-a astronomical survey captain, or an acrobat or a-“

The doctor began walking over to her, syringe in hand and a look of determination on his face. 

“Stefan, stun her please,” Cavilo ordered.

Stefan brought up his weapon laconically and fired. If he’d been a bit faster he would have gotten Xio. But she was quick and pulled the doctor in front of her and into the line of fire. Kevosh crumpled to the ground.

“You didn’t really want a serial killer operating on me, did you,” Xio asked.

Cavilo looked angry now and she advanced on her daughter, grabbing her hair, “you think you’re not replaceable too?”

“I’m glad we both agree on that. Maybe you can use someone else for your insane experiments. I don’t want anything to do with your half baked plans for conquest.”

Cavilo went very still, “oh, but you will. I suppose we have to wait for the doctor to awaken before continuing. In the meantime perhaps you’d like to visit the prisons of House Fell.”

Xio considered that threat, and considered the very determined look in her mother’s eyes. Xio didn’t want to spend time in any prison much less one on Jackson’s Whole where the rules didn’t matter and there was no accountability. Oh, this was bad, Xio thought. 

“I’m no good to you if they murder me,” Xio exclaimed.

“No,” Cavilo agreed slowly, “but maybe it will remind you that I can be a gentle, loving mother if you behave. But I can’t be responsible for you if you disobey me. Especially on a planet like Jackson’s Whole.”

Xio saw Stefan raise his gun again, as did Yari, Johannes, Malik and Davoud. It was one thing to dodge one stunner, but she didn’t stand a chance against five.

“I think I’ll go quietly,” she offered raising her hands.

She wasn’t sure who, but one of them shot her.

 

Xio woke up with a serious stunner migraine. The first thing she noted about the darkened prison cell was the sickly sweet scent of open sewage. She lay on the ground in near darkness. A light hung overhead but provided little illumination to the room. At least it wasn’t a four by four foot oubliette she thought.

“Well that was rude,” she shouted to no one. The cell was everything she’d expect form a Jacksonian prison cell, minus the iron maiden. But they probably kept that sucker somewhere else.

She sat up and was hit with a wave of nausea that forced her stomach contents upward. Even after that had been emptied she continued to retch. 

Xio looked around to see what she thought was a squatting toilet. It was covered in things she didn’t want to consider. 

“Hey! You are not winning the mother of the year award for this, ever,” Xio shouted.

Silence.

“I’m not ok in here! What is wrong with you as a person?!”

More silence.

“I want to speak with Child Protective Services!”

No one. Xio wondered vaguely if her mother was planning on leaving her down there for a few hours or a few days. She was relatively sure her mother didn’t have any extra children. No reason to suspect that her mother would make an example of her, Xio hoped.

“I want a cheese sandwich,” Xio yelled.

This time the door opened and Xio winced away from the too bright light. She backed up feeling nauseous again. 

“What the hell is all the noise about in here,” a large angry man in House Fell colors demanded from the door.

“Sorry, just some mother-daughter bonding,” Xio explained. House Fell colors meant something different than her mother’s colors. Was her mother making sure this fellow didn’t maim her daughter? Did this fellow even answer to Cavilo and did he know that Xio wasn’t like the other prisoners?

She couldn’t count on that. Her stomach did a little flop. He was a large, armed fellow and she was recently stunned and off balance.

“Well there aren’t any mothers down here. So it seems you’ve been yelling at me, and demanding things of me. I don’t much like that.”

“Oh, well I’m really sorry about that,” Xio apologized. She looked the fellow over, he must be six and a half to almost seven feet tall and built like a tank. The shock stick on his belt and the lethal looking plasma arc weren’t reassuring either. She suddenly wished she had kept her mouth shut. She didn’t know what these guards had to do to get jobs down here, but it was undoubtedly unpleasant and they were undoubtedly unpleasant. 

“Roderick, What the hell were you thinking,” another angry male voice called from the corridor. Roderick looked back.

Xio wondered vaguely if there was a guard out there with a heart of gold who took in run-away kittens and protected loud-mouthed girls from angry jailors.

“You know that some of these containment units have medical experiments in them. You can’t just be opening and closing doors like that, you idiot. You’ll kill us all,” the second jailor continued. 

Ok, he was clearly worried about himself and not Xio. That could be bad. Not to mention the discussion of medical experiments. Well Dr Jameson had mentioned the possibility of using human subjects and Xio figured they didn’t worry about obtaining permission from said subjects before experimenting on them. Who knew where House Fell got its human subjects from, they were probably orphans and runaways, or others who wouldn’t be missed or didn’t have money. They were also probably kept down here with her. Xio shivered. 

Anyone who worked here probably wasn’t too worried about kittens or a loud mothed girl.

Xio saw that the voice belonged to a second man in House Fell colors as he too stepped into the room. He was smaller but just as barrel chested and angry looking.

“I checked the readout on the wall first,” Roderick said, looking slightly embarrassed but defiant at being scolded. Yeah, he had the dull look in his eyes of a work animal, Xio thought. He was probably someone who takes a lot of abuse from his superiors. That definitely didn’t bode well for her. 

The second man swung around and pulled something off the wall just outside of the cell. He was muttering under his breath as he seemed to skim over whatever was written there.

“So you caused a ruckus upstairs with one of the docs? Well I don’t know if that warrants a visit down here but I guess I won’t complain,” the second man said.

Xio didn’t entirely understand that comment and she wasn’t sure she wanted to as she watched the two jailors exchange a look.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Francois,” Roderick asked. Xio considered the two men, even in the dim lighting they didn’t look particularly handsome. Not that this would be a sticking point in finding members of the fairer sex on a place like Jackson’s Whole where money was all that mattered. But… well she had no idea how much of their income was disposable for that necessity and free was free. Jarvis seemed to be thinking the same thing based on the hungry way he was looking at her.

“You know I was thinking, my mother’s probably not coming back for a while. What if we ordered a pizza and watched Ruby of India, it’s this really cool historical drama I just got into,” Xio suggested.

How did they go so quickly from meeting her to deciding to rape her, Xio thought. Wasn’t there some kind of etiquette on this? Was it that they were so surprised to meet someone they actually could rape without worrying about some kind of horrible contagious disease that both of them immediately jumped to the idea?

“How do you plan on paying for that pizza,” Francois asked in amusement.

“You know I’m not really a prisoner here like the others, my mother is just trying to scare me straight so I don’t argue with her anymore. You really shouldn’t touch me,” Xio said.

Xio wondered if she could take these two guys. They were paid to keep the peace down here and they had to be good at something, right? Certainly there were plenty of other people who could beat the snot out of prisoners, so what made these two so special?

“It doesn’t say anything about that on your read out,” Francois noted.

This asshole was just toying with her, Xio thought angrily. Roderick looked ready to jump her now, but he seemed to be waiting for the go-ahead from Francois. If they came at her at once in this little room she wasn’t sure she’d have the room she needed to maneuver. But maybe she could count on their lack of coordination. They didn’t seem to move that fast. But then they didn’t have to, not if they worked with prisoners who were dead and dying. 

Xio considered that Francois carried a stunner and a shockstick of his own. Her blood was pumping in her ears at the idea of these two on top of her and she wondered if it might be better if she made them kill her instead. Of course if Francois shot her they could still do whatever they wanted and she’d wake up to that. 

How could her mother do this to her? 

“Yeah… well see my mother wanted me to get a sex change to be a dude and it’s probably going to happen at this rate. Now ask yourselves, do you really want to have sex with an almost-man,” Xio asked. She wasn’t actually sure what the views on homosexuality were around here. Was that a deterrent?

“At least you’d be a pretty man,” Roderick noted. He was clearly bored of waiting and at a nod from Francois he took off his belt which held his plasma arc and shock stick and handed them off to Francois.

“Be careful, she looks like a biter,” Francois advised with a smile on his lips.

Francois looked like a man who was settling in for a much anticipated series premiere. These two really were scum of the planets, Xio thought. 

“That’s fine, I like it rough. How about you sweetheart,” Roderick asked her.

The room Xio was in was not huge, and Roderick would only have to take a few steps before he could grab her. Which would be bad since his superior height and weight would only work to her disadvantage. Typically with a much larger opponent it was best to fight in a more open area where there was room to move, or better yet, shoot the fucker from a distance or poison him beforehand. Level playing fields were something you worried about in soccer, not for winning a life or death contest.

Right, Xio thought, considering women tended to have greater lower body strength than upper body and if she didn’t give a damn about fighting fair then one option was the triangle choke done with the thighs. But considering that his biceps were as big as her head she figured that wasn’t a great option. Groin or throat was always a good bet, but getting to either of them would be interesting.

“So, wait, I was wondering… Hey! Stop,” Xio shouted, Roderick was almost upon her.

“There’s nowhere to run and you don’t have any money,” Roderick said in irritation, but he paused. Apparently throwing herself on his tender mercies was also out of the question, she thought sardonically. Oh, if I have my way you are going to die screaming motherfucker. 

“Er, no. I was just wondering, if you could fight anyone in history, living or dead who would it be,” she asked.

Roderick looked confused, then considered the question. He turned to his partner, “Hey Francois, whose that ultimate cage fighter we watched the other night? The idiot with the dance moves.”

“Mad Dog Imal? You mean the one who lost an eye in a bout and then tried to bow out?”

“Yeah, that one,” Roderick agreed, he turned back to Xio, “big guy, acts real tough but I think he’s chickenshit. I could be a cage fighter.”

Big guy, already a cage fighter. Ok, so Roderick figured size was important and he didn’t have a big imagination for choosing his fictional sparring partner. Xio breathed faster, maybe this could work she thought. 

She was not the best close combat fighter. Roderick probably did his fair share of back alley brawls for the hell of it and he seemed like a guy with a lot of pride. So he wasn’t going to back down if she nailed him in the nads. He’d probably get his buddy to nail her with a stunner or their shock sticks and then they’d really destroy her.

She backed up and felt the cold metallic wall press into her back. She didn’t know where her mother was or if her mother had orchestrated this. Was this really the spontaneous will of two guys? 

“You know I don’t really want to hurt you,” Xio lied as she sank down to the ground, one knee up and one resting down on the ground. Her hands were in a defensive posture in front of her face and she allowed her voice to quaver. Actually yeah, she did want to hurt this guy and his friend for walking in here and casually assuming they could just rape her.

They probably got away with this shit a lot too. 

Roderick snorted, “I don’t really care what you want princess.”

He reached down to grab her. She wasn’t sure what he meant to do after that, but he wasn’t guarding himself. Likely because he didn’t think a five foot four inch girl was going to give him any problems. She knocked his arm aside, and leapt up grabbing unto his neck. He reared back and pulled himself up and her with him, she ended up with her legs wrapped around his torso, one hand behind his head holding him and with the other she took her knuckles and rubbed them hard up along the thyroid cartilage of his neck.

The next minute he ripped her off his body and thrown her with an angry roar against the far wall. She hit the wall hard and dropped but pulled herself to her feet as Francois swore and moved for his stunner. She ripped off one of her shoes and hit him with it. Not hard enough to cause damage but enough to distract him for when she tackled him. She slammed into him, knocking him off his feet and down and forcing him to drop Roderick’s gear as well as his own stunner. Francois went to roll Xio off of him and wrestle her into a submission position. Xio slammed her elbows into his thighs and then punched him in the groin. He screamed, she grabbed for the shock stick and he grabbed for her wrists but she was already off him and stumbling back with the weapon in hand. He dove for her but she flipped on the shock stick and smashed him across the face with it. 

Francois screamed again and Xio worried vaguely that there must be more guards around. She flipped the switch to maximum and hit him again. He roared again and she smelled the stinking scent of burnt flesh. Francois did not immediately rise. She stumbled over and un-holstered the plasma arc from Roderick’s belt, glancing over to see the giant on the ground clutching his throat. She turned back and shot Francois once in the chest and once in the head for good measure before turning back to Roderick. 

When she’d performed a sternal rub up his neck she’d inflamed the lining within the trachea. But it was Roderick himself who was his own worst enemy when he had roared and further inflamed the underlying muscles within the throat causing them to spasm and close partially. Really he would be fine if he calmed down and breathed evenly. But when people feel like they can’t breath they get scared and do bizarre things. Roderick was hyperventilating now, he might lose consciousness on his own if he kept it up, Xio thought. She rifled through Francois’s pockets, pulling out anything that looked useful.

Then she got up and walked over to Roderick. Yes,if he continued in his hysteria he would eventually lose consciousness and go back to breathing normally. He would live if she left him alone. Of course, Xio reflected, feeling the weight of the plasma arc in her hand, she wasn’t going to do that. 

Roderick looked up at her from his position on the ground, if he felt light headed and weak it was because of his hyperventilating and not some secret assassins trick. She smiled down at him, then shot him twice, just as she’d done with Francois to make sure he was dead. Then she rifled through his pockets, taking everything she found. She sealed them both up in that little room and took the plasma arc concealed in the waistband of her pants but left the shock sticks. She fumbled with their internal map of the building, trying to orient herself as she headed for the lifts. 

Alright mama, you tried to punish me? How about I punish you? I'm going to take away what you value most, power.


	5. Chapter 5

Xiomara found herself trembling as the lift rose. She had no mirror to see herself and wondered uneasily if she would be able to pass as a normal visitor rather than an escaped prisoner on the upper levels. 

Surely the guards of House Fell would figure her out.

The lift shuddered, as if gasping for air.

Cavilo knows I’m in here and she and her guards are trapping me inside, Xio thought in a panic.

But the lift continued to rise after only a moment’s pause. 

Xio forced herself to take several calming breaths. You’re not a damn coward. You visit cemeteries for fun. You are not afraid of death, you are not afraid of dying, and you sure as hell aren’t afraid of some punk with a gun or a witch with a stupid virus, Xio reminded herself.

The elevator dinged, an alert that it had reached her floor. Xio stepped out unto carpeted floor and dim lighting. She looked around to make sure she was in the right hallway leading to Jameson’s office. Surely it hadn’t been so dark earlier, she thought uneasily.

Murmurs from a female voice over the sound system told her to evacuate the building. Alarms were going off in the building.

Had some virus or plague gotten out after all? What had happened she wondered, starting to pull on the breath mask she’d stolen off Francois. 

As she did this she was nearly run down by several House Fell guards dressed in battle armor.

“Identify yourself,” one shouted pointing a plasma rifle at her.

One of the others snorted and mocked his overzealous team member, “the intruders are armed and in armor. They’re not sending out scared little girls.”

Another one, one with a gold band on his arm, signifying his role as leader of the troop, shoved her to one side of the hall. He tossed her advice over his shoulder even as he lead his team forward, “you better get the hell out of here if you don’t want to end up caught in a crossfire. Some crazy assholes just decided to attack House Fell’s medical stronghold.”

So had what she felt in the lift been due to these intruders, Xio wondered. Not terror weapons accidentally being released upon their creators, she decided.

This seemed a blessing in disguise. Surely Cavilo would be hiding somewhere safe, and House Fell’s guards would be busy.

Despite the advice of the guards Xio continued forward in the same direction the troop had headed, though slower than they. Might as well take his advice on staying out of the crossfire at least, she thought.

Xio reached the door of Dr. Albert Jameson, noted the little plaque on his door, as one would see on a college professor’s door or the door of an office in a respectable building.  
She attempted to open it and found it locked. Not merely locked but locked and coded.

She wondered if the man had barricaded himself inside as part of a shelter in place order from on high. Did members of House Fell have to die at their stations? She doubted it, knowing that principles weren’t typically the highest priorities for Jacksonians. No women and children BS here.

Xio fiddled with the commpad for a moment trying to guess at the researcher’s passcode. Hacking would be so much easier with her tools she thought in irritation.  
She doubted she could just shoot it open. No, that would likely trigger more alarms. Not to mention that House Fell likely expected rivals to try and forcibly break in to extract information. A casual hit and run like that wouldn’t do here.

Damn it, she thought angrily.

The alarms were doing nothing to help her think. She was beginning to hate whoever had broken into the building. 

So what? Call out to see if the Jameson was inside and see if he would open the door for her? Find another entrance? Surely the Jacksonian’s would have an extra entry and exit to any room of importance.

A flash of movement caught her eye and she turned in time to see several armored individuals in non-House colors racing around the corner that the House Fell troops had just gone in. They wore full mask helmets, meant to protect against aerosolizable weapons as well as the more traditional plasma fire. They carried plasma rifles of their own. One looked to be injured and another was trying to stop the bleeding.

Not Jacksonian intruders then, Xio decided. Or at least they weren’t Jacksonian mercs. No, merc would tend to a wounded comrade like that. 

Was this the point team or what remained of the original company? The answer to that question would certainly affect their response to her. 

Xio stayed where she stood, watching them. It wouldn’t do to run, either towards them or away and there was nowhere to hide in this corridor. 

One was muttering urgently into his helmet’s commsystem but the words might as well have been gibberish. She didn’t know what he was saying. 

The bastard could be ordering kebob from a local fast food place for all she knew.

One finally seemed to see her.

Not that she was hiding. Not that there was anywhere to hide in this hallway. Not when she didn’t have a code for any of the damn doors.

She smiled, “Hi, you know my boss just left some of his data on a comm here and wouldn’t you know it can’t be transmitted over the link here. I have to manually download it. Don’t mind me.”

They all turned to stare at her. She had no idea what expression they wore under those helmets.

Shouldn’t they be running or shooting things or? Certainly more House Fell guards were going to come barreling this way any minute.

“You should probably leave now. I mean what with the place literally swarming with Baron Fell’s men,” Xio said.

One of them men stalked towards her.

Not this again, she thought.

He grabbed her arm as she tried to move away.

“Honestly I’m just a secretary. I don’t know anything important and I’d really just be a waste of energy to murder so – SON OF A BITCH,” Xio shouted as he stabbed her with a Forensci-reader. A device used to match blood samples to a pre-set genetic code. Something you used to link kidnapped children to their parents, or murderers to a crime scene. That or it could help locate individuals close enough in genetic code that you could harvest their organs for the person whose code you’d uploaded initially.

The needle itself was tiny and didn’t hurt much, but it had certainly surprised her.

The machine made a happy little beeping noise, and the man murmured something back to his comrades.

Well hell they weren’t looking for organ donors were they? Certainly it was cheaper and easier to do that with a vat these days, right? 

Were they raiding the House for slaves then?

Bio-compatible slaves for god knew what. 

Xio managed to wriggle out of his hold on her but she only made it a few steps before she saw the flash of light then hit the floor.

 

Gregor had received the commcall from Allegre only an hour ago, but he made time in his schedule to visit ImpSec. Miles had ended up in tow though Gregor hardly knew how this had happened. The little man simply had a penchant for introducing himself into situations. 

“This is the first recorded interview with Xiomara,” Gregor inquired quietly as he spoke to the current chief of ImpSec, Guy Allegre.

Interrogation was a more accurate term he admitted to himself.

After the girl’s appearance and subsequent disappearance off Bovakia ImpSec had managed ot track her to Jackson’s Whole. More disconcertingly they’d found she was traveling with Cavilo.The girl had been caught, Cavilo had escaped. House Fell was swearing vengeance against the intruders though it was unclear whether the House realized who the intruders were.

“Yes Sire, the vid was beamed to us only a short time ago. I knew you would want to see it for yourself,” Allegre said.

Gregor lowered himself into a chair. Miles and Allegre did so as well.

Gregor nodded, “very well, please begin it.”

Allegre nodded and he pressed a button on the commconsole, starting a vid.

In it a waif-like teenage girl with blonde hair and brown eyes scowled up at a Barrayaran officer.

“This is Captain Heinrich Minsky reporting from the FAS-210 with our current captive,” the officer reported.

“Please identify yourself for the record,” Minsky said patiently.

“You identify yourself for the record,” the girl snapped folding her arms over her chest.

“I just did,” Minsky said in annoyance.

The girl glared at the captain.

Minsky frowned, “present with me is one Xiomara Cavilo as confirmed by cheek swab and blood test.”

“It was a very invasive blood test too, my arm is bruised,” Xio stated indignantly showing off a large welt on her forearm.

“That’s because you were struggling,” Minsky informed both the girl and the vidcam.

“A person has a right to defend her body against attackers,” Xio stated firmly.

“We were performing a standard, minimally invasive medical procedure and you failed to cooperate,” Minsky explained.

“Seems like your face failed to cooperate, at least I figure that’s why you’re so goofy looking,” Xio stated.

This insult seemed to snap the captain’s already frayed temper.

Minsky tapped his fingers on the table, “that’s it, we’re getting the fast penta.”

A brief struggle ensued partially on cam in which at least one ImpSec agent was bitten.

Gregor rubbed his face and remembered back to his own childhood. ImpSec had not produced agents who were good at dealing with children. Not that any of them had ever forcibly held him down and applied fast penta. But they had been overzealous in protecting him against fireworks, pools and leaving his room after bedtime.

The vid continued with everyone back in their respective chairs, the girl’s pupils rapidly dilated to indicate effect of the fast penta taking hold. The giggling was also a clear indication.

Gregor was relieved that she didn’t have any idiosyncratic responses, such as weeping, to the fast penta. 

“Xiomara, what were you doing on Jackson’s Whole,” Minsky asked, attempting to resume his calm demeanor.

“Clearly I was trying to leave. The only good thing about Jackson’s Whole is that there are so many exits,” Xiomara declared.

“Where did you plan to go,” Minsky asked.

Xio looked as if she were concentrating very hard. At least until a laughing fit took hold of her.

“Xiomara, where did you plan to go after you left Jackson’s Whole? Were you headed to Barrayar,” Minsky asked.

Xio snorted, “of course not! Nothing good is on Barrayar. I was thinking of Anselm which has this abandoned amusement park I’ve been reading about. Maybe Jiaotan with its infamous suicide forest. I have goals you know.”

“Did your goals include assassinating emperor Gregor Vorbarra,” Minsky demanded harshly.

Xio looked offended by this and misunderstood the question, “you think I’m going to assassinate the emperor for you? Assassinate your own damn emperor! I don’t have time for that! I don’t know what that asshole did, but you and mi madre need to just deal with him yourselves.”

“I have no desire to assassinate the emperor,” Minsky declared, glancing up at the vidcam.

“Then why did you ask me to assassinate him for you,” Xio demanded.

“I didn’t ask you to assassinate him for me,” Minsky stated.

“Did you ever realize the word ass appears twice in the spelling of assassinate,” Xio asked with a smile.

Minsky, ruffled, did not deign the comment on this, “Did you intend to rule Barrayar and its two planets, Sergyar and Komarr?”

“Rule three planets? Why the hell would I do that? I wouldn’t want to rule one planet! I wouldn’t want to rule a continent! Hell I could never be a kidnapper because that’s too much responsibility. You have to remember to keep feeding your captive and damn do I get distracted easily. Shit I was in charge of a plant for a weekend once and I killed it accidentally,” Xio declared.

“Are you sure she’s related to you, she sounds like Ivan,” Miles murmured for Gregor’s ear alone.

Gregor nodded in silent agreement. Barring any idiosyncratic responses which would allow the girl to lie, she was not only uninterested in the Barrayaran throne but outright opposed to being placed on it. This at least was a relief.

“Did you ever intend to help someone else rule Barrayar, Sergyar and Komarr,” Minsky asked.

Xio rolled her eyes, “nobody with any brains wants to rule anything. It’s too much work and you have to deal with all of those people and they want things and they want different things and blah, blah, blah.”

Xio put her head down on the table.

“Xiomara, please sit up,” Minsky requested.

“You sit up,” Xio said sitting up grouchily.

“Xiomara why did your mother bring you to Jackson’s whole,” Minsky asked.

“She thought it would be a great idea for me to get sexual reassignment surgery,” Xio declared angrily.

“Did you not wish to go along with the sexual reassignment surgery your mother planned for you,” Minsky asked.

“Of course I didn’t want to go along with it! I’ve seen men respond to getting whacked in the nads. They just fall over and clutch themselves. Like, why would I want an organ that’s that sensitive? My god if I was a man I’d wear a cup everywhere I went. Don’t get me started on the awkward boners,” Xio insisted.

Minsky cleared his throat and made a valiant attempt to stay on course with this interrogation, “Xiomara, what are your views on the Barrayaran emperor Gregor Vorbarra.”

Xio threw up her hands, “You mean on his policies? You think I have time to worry about policy for a backwater planet like Barrayar? Nobody has time for that! Not even the people of Barrayar care enough, that’s why they’ve got that oligarchy going, because no normal person wants to deal with government!”

Minsky tried to say something else but Xio continued.

“You know who has a good system of government? There was a province in Kshytria which was run by an elephant named Priya and everybody thought it was great! She didn’t raise taxes, she didn’t pass any stupid laws and she wasn’t corrupt. We should have more elephants in charge of government,” Xio declared.

Gregor thought briefly of what rule would have been like under Lord Midnight and wondered if he would have been as successful as this elephant.

Minsky muttered something inaudible. He moved to end the recording.

“You haven’t even asked the most important questions asshole,” Xio informed him angrily.

“Pray tell, what are the most important issues,” Minsky asked, his disdain apparent.

“How about the hemorrhagic pathogen my mother has been having constructed? The one she’s planning on releasing on Barrayar as part of her plot to seize the throne. You think that might be important sugartits?”

Gregor’s eyebrows rose at this, he glanced first at Miles then at Allegre. Both of whom were now sitting up in their seats.

“So Cavilo intended to turn her daughter into a son and then eliminate the competition for the throne through this pathogen,” Miles murmured.

Minsky seemed to be thinking the same thing, “Who did she think she could kill with this… pathogen?”

“Everyone. Let me tell you, this thing is aerosolizable, it kills rats in a number of days and my understanding is that it kills people faster and there’s no cure. On a scale of good to bad, this is shit-pocalyptic,” the girl insisted.

Minsky paled, “how is this-“

“What? Possible? What did you expect from my mother, the woman who would be happy to be queen even if she is queen of a corpse pile? You expect sanity? Well you came to the wrong house, bitch,” the girl declared vehemently.

“Be that as it may, how did she intend to introduce this virus to the emperor? Certianly she would have realized that after the first few deaths the emperor would be moved to safety, far too soon for him to be infected if you simply release this pathogen on the populace,” Minsky noted.

True enough, Gregor thought with disgust. He would be kept safe at all costs, even while others around him died off. He was not permitted to sacrifice himself in that way, especially not now that he had young children. 

Gregor shivered internally thinking of what fate could befall them and his wife, were he not present to rule.

“My mother mentioned having someone on the inside to help with that, and to help me get on the throne after my sex reassignment. Here, look at this, I’m putting all of the information together for you. Do I get a reward for this,” the girl demanded.

“Does she know that a reward for a job well done is usually another job,” Miles murmured.

Gregor shook his head but didn't respond. He remained fixated on the girl.

“Who is the traitor,” Minsky asked.

“Hell I don’t know, someone with access to the emperor, someone who can rally troops I’d guess. But my mother never gives away information that easily. The best way to avoid being assassinated is to make sure no one will survive if you die. She lives by that idea,” Xio admitted.

Minsky moved to ask another question.

Xiomara threw up her hands, “Turn this ship around and go back to Jackson’s Whole you twat. You don’t want me, you want to get that stupid pathogen, and probably shoot the asshole who made it. Burn down the lab too so no one else can replicate that sucker. Do I have to teach you everything?”

Minsky frowned, “my orders are to take you to Barrayar.”

“Well your orders are stupid, like your face,” Xio said.

“We’re done here,” Minsky said cutting the vid.

 

“This is serious, general,” Gregor noted looking at Allegre.

“Yes, someone is going to have to hunt down this traitor,” Miles said, his eyes alight in only the way they could be when he was thinking madly.  
Miles enjoyed a challenge.


	6. Chapter 6

“You know this business is going to have to be kept extremely quiet,” Gregor noted as he and Miles headed out of the meeting room.

Gregor had instructed Allegre to scramble his agents and locate the pathogen and the researcher who produced it. Failing that, they were to locate any notes on the pathogen’s creation immediately and forward it to the Vorbarra Sultana Biodefense Institute. Not that Gregor had needed to issue these orders, Allegre was a highly competent man. It just made Gregor feel useful as he groped helplessly for a response to Cavilo’s renewed onslaught.

No, Gregor told himself, he wasn’t helpless, though he’d felt that way at twenty five while trapped in the woman’s cabin on the Kurin’s Hand. He and Miles had still managed to extricate themselves from her grasp then and defeat her. If it can be done once, it can be done twice, Gregor thought firmly.

Miles shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe something loud would flush this traitor out.”

“You assume her confederate is a man,” Gregor noted. 

To be fair, Gregor assumed the same as well. Cavilo seemed the sort of woman who didn’t like other women. Not that Cavilo was necessarily capable of truly liking anyone. Perhaps it was more apt to say she was more comfortable with men since they were likely easier for her to manipulate. 

“Were she to have a main confederate as a woman Cavilo would still have to find some male as her stand in to sit on the throne. She knows she can’t change cultural norms overnight. She also knows it’s best to involve as few people in her true plans as possible,” Miles theorized.

“Though she will of course intend to spread mass confusion while she does this,” Gregor agreed.

Miles hesitated a fraction of a moment, “you think Xiomara is your only child from her?”

“God I hope so,” Gregor stated vehemently.

He hardly knew what he would do if Cavilo had more children up her sleeve. Especially if one of those children possessed Cavilo’s amorality and actually wanted the throne. 

They were near the exit to the building but not beyond the restricted areas when Miles asked his next question, “what do you plan to do with the girl?”

“Your mother and father have set a precedent for accepting in wayward, unplanned children,” Gregor stated with a small smile. If nothing else Xiomara did not seemed aligned with her mother’s goals, and since she was a girl Gregor could afford to be more lenient with her. 

“Do you know how you’ll explain her,” Miles asked.

“You mean whether I’ll go into the gory details of my tryst with a female mercenary captain? No. That would only lead to more questions and I have no desire for anyone to look more closely at the war of the Hegen Hub than they already have. Better that the populace know nothing about their emperor’s mad attempt to abdicate the throne… I suppose the official story will be that your father and I arrived in time with a Barrayaran fleet to drive back the Cetagandans, that I did meet the female mercenary who was attempting to aid them, and that she took advantage of my willingness to let her live and stole my genetic material before escaping,” Gregor thought aloud.

“But a simple gene scan will show that the girl has whatever – alterations you do. She was a body birth correct? So no gene modification was done before birth,” Miles noted. Which meant that Cavilo had to have stolen a very specific form of genetic material from Gregor. Skin follicles or tissue samples just weren't enough in this case. Which would again lead to more questions and research into matters Gregor intensely wanted to forget about.

Miles was careful not to refer to Gregor’s genetic mutations as such. No, whatever negative genetic predispositions Gregor had, they would never be spoken of by any of Gregor’s subjects out loud. It was tantamount to treason since the idea of mutation, even natural mutations in the genome, were only to be brought up as a form of insult.

It also meant that whatever time bombs were ticking away in Gregor’s genome he had likely passed on at least some of them to his daughter.

“I do not imagine that her gene scans will fall into the hands of the public or even the council of counts. Despite what your mother thinks about free access to information, I’m afraid I enjoy the ability to quash such information about my genetics and will do so for all of my offspring,” Gregor said.

Miles nodded seemingly mollified.

Miles got into the Vorkosigan groundcar and presumably left to locate and apprehend the traitor. Gregor took a moment to breathe deeply in the early evening air. He knew that even if Miles did locate the traitor there was still the matter of hunting down Cavilo. Gregor doubted that the woman would give in even if they found her co-conspirator. Nor was it a simple matter of finding effective treatment or a cure for this pathogen. If she had spent the last sixteen years plotting his downfall, Gregor knew that the loss of one man or even her main assault weapon would not dissuade Cavilo from her attempts at revenge.


	7. Chapter 7

Captain Minsky had finally arrived downside with Xiomara in tow. The teenager looked paler than she had when they’d initially picked her up. It hardly made sense, Minsky thought with irritation, after the initial fast penta report had been sent back to Barrayar he had received orders to halt further fast penta interrogations. Not only that but Minsky’s superior, Admiral Milosev, had been ordered to give the girl escorted access to all areas of the ship, like she was some guest rather than a detainee. 

Despite this coddling the girl seemed to have gotten quite sick after the last jump. The ship’s cook had complained that she hadn’t been eating properly and the ship’s doctor had noted a slight, but continuous fever. 

Well, the girl wasn’t dead yet. Surely some Barrayaran doctor would fix her if the emperor desired. At least she wasn’t Minsky’s problem anymore, or she wouldn’t be as soon as Minsky dropped Xiomara off at the Residence.

It would be a short trip and Minsky had two other men with him should the girl try to escape. Plus their driver was set to meet them with an aircar at the front entrance. So there would be four men present to prevent the girl’s escape. Not that this was necessary Minsky decided as he watched the girl stumble along. Gone from Xiomara’s eyes was the bright intensity that had once imbued them. The girl’s eyes now seemed dull, and her skin was paper dry.

Minsky thought then of the pathogen the girl had talked about and wondered uneasily if she had been exposed to it. The ship’s physician didn’t seem to think so considering that no one had developed the hemorrhagic aspect of the hemorrhagic fever which was supposedly induced by this pathogen.

Still, Minsky would be glad to not have to worry about what odd disease the child might have. 

Minsky and his group were quickly ushered through customs with only a cursory glance at their papers. 

“I don’t feel well,” Xiomara stated as the customs official handed back the paperwork.

The man, a Lieutenant Vorzhersky, glanced over at Minsky. 

“Is it your stomach again,” Minsky asked. He tried to keep the impatience out of his voice.

He’d been bitten by the girl and so his sense of compassion was tempered by this memory.

The girl lurched slightly, “I’m going to throw up.”

Vorzhersky’s eyes bugged out, “there’s a lav down the hall.” 

With the eyes of his subordinates and the customs official on him Minsky decided it was not appropriate to let the girl puke on the floor on the way to the air car. He wanted to get rid of Xiomara, he didn’t trust the girl. But Minsky also didn’t want to appear too hard-hearted.

“Alright, let’s go then,” Minsky said taking the girl by the arm and leading her until they located the lav. It was a single person room which Minsky didn’t like.

He sighed, “go on, we’ll wait. But don’t close the door.”

The girl entered. 

There were sounds of vomiting and an alarmed, “is that blood?”

Damn there’d better be no internal bleeding. I’m so close to being done with her, Minsky thought.

He entered the lav and moved to look into the receptacle where the girl was also focused.

“Do you think I’m dying,” the girl asked, sounding hysterical.

You’d damn well better not be, Minsky thought angrily.

“There’s-“ Minsky began.

Xiomara caught him in the solar plexus, harder than Minsky thought the girl could punch.

The girl had already pulled Minsky’s stunner free as Minsky fell back. Damn, but those stunners were standard issue from the ship’s armory. They weren’t personalized to each individual.

The last thing Minsky remembered was Xiomara’s smile.

 

Xiomara checked to make sure she hadn’t left anything outside the lav before she set an “Out of Order” sign on it and walked off. Puking her brains out the last two days had definitely been to her advantage in the long run she decided. Well, minus the slight disorientation she was getting. But those ImpSec agents had underestimated her long enough for Xiomara to shoot them. Not that she was anywhere in the clear yet. Xio wondered if there were sensors in the shuttleport to report to security that weapons had been discharged. She wouldn’t be surprised and so she didn’t linger long to check through the pockets of the unconscious ImpSec agents before leaving them behind.

Xio made her way out to the main concourse which was almost entirely populated by men in green uniforms. 

Nice and slow, she told herself as she headed for the wide open exit at the end of the shuttleport. Belatedly Xio wondered what she should be doing after this. Foiling her mother’s plans were at the top of her list. That being said, she had no desire to work with Gregor Vorbarra to do this. Nor did she have a desire to sit down and have a heart to heart talk with him. Vorbarra was a politician of course and the only thing worse than a bat shit crazy mercenary trying to surprise turn you into a man and ruin your life for diabolical purposes was talking to a politician, Xio decided firmly.

She just needed to set up some kind of base of operations and start looking for that traitor herself. That and maybe buy a bio-safety suit in case shit hit the fan. Also at the top of her list was to actually eat something. Damn but she was starving from all that feigned sickness.

As Xio made her way to the exits she noticed out of her periphery a group of men in green with little blue armbands. They were making their way towards her rather than milling about like the rest of the men in green around Xio. Xio had the impression that they were Imperial Travel Security and decided that they must have found her ImpSec handlers much sooner than she’d expected. 

Damn, can’t a motherfucker catch a break with you people, Xio wondered in annoyance.

Ok, be calm, Xio thought as she continued towards the exit. They hadn’t shot her yet so they were likely trying to be discreet. 

One of the ImpTrav men put his hand on Xio’s shoulder just before Xio exited the terminal.

Xio smiled up at the man before grabbing the man’s stunner. Two frustrated squeezes later she found out that this one was keyed to the man’s fingerprints. 

Xio also found herself dodging flying bodies as two of the officers tried to tackle her to the ground. Xio threw the stunner, nailing the one fellow who was removing his own and then bolted out the door to sweet freedom.

A groundcar stood idling as its driver moved to the driver’s seat, his back was to Xio. It made it easy for Xio to go flying over the hood of the car and nail the driver as he turned to investigate the commotion.

The driver was knocked to the ground but almost instantly rose up and lunged at Xio. A second faster and it would have mattered, but as it was Xio slammed the driver’s side door shut after herself just in time, then she turned the key in the ignition. Xio drove off as the driver swore behind her and briefly chased the car.

 

“I am the greatest excape artist of all time,” Xio shouted in exhilaration as she floored it out of the shuttleport gates, nearly running over several people.

“Xiomara,” a woman’s voice inquired.

“Aaagh!”

The woman, a distinguished looking individual with red hair that was just beginning to turn gray, raised her eyebrows at Xiomara’s response.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I was merely hoping you would slow down. It would be terribly embarrassing if you crashed the car considering that no one is chasing us,” the woman explained with just a hint of humor dancing in her eyes.

Xio felt herself blush and obeyed the woman’s request. 

“Yes, well. I didn’t mean to alarm you by commandeering this vehicle. I just want you to know that I fully intend to respect your rights under the Hegen Hub Convention,” Xio informed the woman.

“I do appreciate it. If you’re trying to figure out the car’s GPS it’s the button on the left, dear. Do you know where you’re going,” the woman asked patiently. 

“Um,” Xio managed. Well no, not off the top of her head. She’d managed to get some general maps of the city while hanging about that blasted ship. But with Minsky always leaning over her shoulder, and knowing that her comm was likely bugged, Xio hadn’t done any in depth investigations of the area. No need to give away anticipated safe houses, she thought. 

“Xiomara, when was the last time you ate,” the woman inquired.

“It’s been a while,” Xio admitted involuntarily.

“Perhaps before you go running off again it might be best if we stopped for refreshments. You don’t want to faint at an inopportune time,” the woman advised.

Xiomara’s stomach growled as if to agree with this point. 

“Did you have any suggestions,” Xio asked.

The red haired woman gave coordinates that Xio entered into the GPS system.


	8. Chapter 8

Xio had expected a restaurant. What she found was a very large building with several armed guards milling about.

“Is this your house,” Xio asked incredulously.

More like a castle or sprawling manor as befit some lord and lady of an old earth storybook, Xio thought looking at the place. Not just any house of course, this was the Vorkosigan residence.

Xiomara, girl genius extraordinaire, had kidnapped one of the most powerful women on Barrayar. What are you going to do for an encore, get drunk and burn down the city? 

“Yes, after a long trip back from Sergyar I thought it would be nice to get a home cooked meal. Wouldn’t you agree,” Countess Vorkosigan asked.

Xio snorted at the idea of Cavilo cooking.

“Well, I don’t know about that. I suppose I could leave you and the car here if you’d like,” Xio said slowly.

Xio was already beginning to think that she’d gotten in over her head by stealing this high-end vehicle which undoubtedly had a tracker in it. Between stealing the car and accidentally kidnapping this distinguished woman Xio wondered why she hadn’t been shot by anyone yet. 

Better just leave the woman and car behind before she pressed her luck too far, Xio thought. 

“You should come in. People fight to be at the table when Ma Kosti serves food,” Countess Vorkosigan stated.

“Would you say the meal is to die for,” Xio inquired considering the gate guards who were now studying the car.

Xio had parked down the block, not close enough to alarm the guards outright. But she could see them getting antsy.

Better leave soon, she thought.

“Xiomara, your father doesn’t want to hurt you,” Countess Vorkosigan said.

“That doesn’t mean he won’t though, right? I mean he’s a politician, he’s looking to make sure nothing and no one throws a cog in his well-ordered system of government,” Xio said.

“Barrayar is hardly well ordered,” the countess stated with a snort. 

Xiomara sighed, she’d meant to lie low. No chance of that now. She dropped her head back against the seat rest and accidentally hit the car horn with her thumb, scaring the bejeezus out of a guard and finally drawing one of the brown and silver liveried men towards the car.

“Well, now that you’ve announced our presence you might as well come inside,” the countess said reasonably.

The woman then got out of the car at the same time as a stern looking, middle aged man sporting a stunner came up to them.

“Pym, could you send someone back to the shuttleport. We ended up leaving Alois behind. Poor fellow, it’s only his second month working for us,” the countess said.

“Of course, Milady,” Pym said bowing and giving Xiomara a stern look.

Xio briefly considered making off with the car. At least until she recognized that while no one had chased them through the streets of Vorbarra Sultana that did not mean that no one had been following them. ImpSec agents were undoubtedly watching her moves and Xio decided she didn’t want to get stunned again.

She hopped out of the car and followed Countess Vorkosigan up the walkway and into the house.

 

“Twelve, please,” Xio said as one of the servants offered her sugar for her tea. 

Both the female servant and the countess raised their eyebrows at this, but she gave Xio twelve cubes of sugar. Xio and the countess were seated in a smaller dining room. Tea had just been served along with a salad. It seemed this would be a multi-course meal, Xio decided. She wasn’t about to complain.

“So what were your goals in ah – commandeering my vehicle,” the countess inquired.

Xio stuffed a fork full of greenery into her mouth in order to buy time and figure out what to say. Usually she hated salads, but damn whatever that dressing was it was irresistible.

“I just figured I’d have an easier time dealing with my mother on my own,” Xio said.

The countess raised an eyebrow at this, “your father literally has an army to aid him in stopping your mother’s plan to release this pathogen on the planet. You don’t think it would be easier to work with him?”

“He’s not really my father,” Xio said dismissively.

“Unless you’ve performed some miraculous sleight of hand on not one but two occasions, the gene scans would suggest otherwise,” the countess noted dryly.

Xio rolled her eyes, “I mean he is but he isn’t. He provided half of my biological material, but he’s not –“ Xio waved her hands, looking for the words but couldn’t find them.

“He’s got a wife and children now that he chose anyway, so it hardly matters,” Xio said.

The countess’s lips curled up in a sad sort of smile, “People don’t choose their relatives kiddo, that doesn’t mean we love them any less.”

“There’s a prison cell in House Fell that begs to differ,” Xio said irritably.

“I had heard some things about Cavilo,” the Countess said slowly, searching Xio’s face for… for what? Xio hardly knew.

“Yes, I’m sure there are files upon files about my mother just as I’m sure I’ve managed to amass a file of my own. I mean they had to put my interrogation vids somewhere, right? Maybe next to the family albums,” Xio suggested.

“While I disagreed that the fast penta was necessary, paranoia, especially within ImpSec is rampant. I’m afraid it makes sense considering some of the historical assassinations of previous emperors. But Xiomara, it wasn’t meant as a punishment for you for being your mother’s daughter,” the countess explained sympathetically.

“No. It was because you people didn’t trust me. Well that’s fine, because I don’t trust you all either,” Xio said.

The countess nodded, “of course. That’s reasonable. Trust is a two way avenue. But it’s cheating when you don’t give us an opportunity to earn that trust.”

Xio considered the older woman even as she considered the main course which was just brought out.

“Tell me about my grandfather, Prince Serg,” Xio said.

The Countess raised an eyebrow at this.

Xio maintained eye contact.

“I met him only briefly during the failed Escobaran invasion. I’m afraid he wasn’t the sort of man I wanted to spend much time with,” the Countess admitted.

Xio nodded. She’d spent the week on the ship watching old speeches from Gregor, his father and his grandfather. Xio had thought there was something off about Crown Prince Serg. Xio would have claimed she could smell something strange about the man, but of course one couldn’t smell a vid. One bit of technology that had never taken off.

“Do you worry often about your genetics,” the countess asked gently.

“No, it’s just a morbid fascination with the macabre. When I was little I used to make my au pair read this story about a six foot rabbit with yellow eyes who kidnapped children and devoured them. She hated it so much she deliberately corrupted the DAT file for it,” Xio said.

“What happened to this woman,” the countess asked.

Xio shrugged, “my mother shot her for some reason or another. I think it was to prove a point to someone else, knowing her it might have been just for fun. I don’t remember.”

“One wonders how Cavilo ever managed to keep a mercenary force together considering her predilections for murdering subordinates,” the countess observed.

“Oh, eventually all the ones who got wise to her ended up dead or escaped without a backwards glance. There have always been new, clueless idiots to fill the ranks since no one stays to warn them off,” Xio explained.

“You were one of the ones who escaped then,” the Countess noted.

“I tried to anyway,” Xio said. She stirred her cup of sugar with tea in it. 

Xio sighed, “I’m not going to be able to avoid Big G am I?”

It took the Countess a moment to recognize that Xio was referring to Gregor.

“Gregor is not like your mother, Xiomara,” the Countess said.

Yeah, she owns a mercenary fleet, he owns three planets. We’re in the big leagues now, Xio thought. She felt a migraine coming on.


	9. Chapter 9

Gregor arrived approximately an hour later. He brought a handful of armsmen with him, though there were plenty of ImpSec agents who took up positions outside.  
It was in the library that he found Cordelia, seated at a commconsole and alone. An armsmen announced Gregor.

“Should I ask where Xiomara is,” Gregor inquired.

“She complained of a migraine so I gave her some meds and left her to nap in one of the guest rooms,” Cordelia explained. 

“She complained of illness with the ImpSec agents sent to escort her this morning,” Gregor noted as he seated himself on one of the couches facing her.

Of course they both knew how that had ended for the agents. 

Cordelia shook her head, “I can hardly say I’m pleased with Xiomara’s methods of problem solving. But her reaction was perfectly reasonable given that they did forcibly kidnap her.”

“Breaking into a major Jacksonian facility hardly gave them time to adequately explain who they were and what they were doing,” Gregor noted.

“No, nor do I think it would have mattered. Xiomara does seem to have certain ideas about you,” Cordelia allowed.

Gregor frowned, “stories from Cavilo?”

Cavilo wasn’t above mixing truth and lies or simply outright lying to obtain her goals. He could easily imagine some story about the evil Barrayaran emperor who scorned Cavilo as a commoner and then attempted to murder her when she became pregnant. There were enough stories of rulers who feared their own children from Oedipus to King Arthur. Of course Arthur’s problem began with sleeping with his half sister, Gregor thought. It was another private lesson on the importance of marriage outside the Vor class where Lord Vorsomebody could be secretly related to Lady Vorsomebody through a clandestine affair and they wouldn't understand why their children looked so inbred. 

“Oddly enough, no. My understanding was that Cavilo never spoke of you up until this enforced visit to Jackson’s Whole and the attempted sex reassignment. I gather it’s partly an issue of becoming accustomed to the idea of a father ,” Cordelia noted.

Gregor raised his eyebrows, “did she think she was a clone?”

“No… I suppose it has to do with the difference between a male fertility donor and a father. I’m not certain she was expecting you to be interested in her beyond making certain she wasn’t a threat to the throne,” Cordelia explained.

Gregor winced. 

“I tried to explain this was a misconception but… I’m sure Cavilo can be a convincing talker. Xiomara seems to prefer actions to words,” Cordelia said thoughtfully tapping her fingers on the keyboard.

“You mean to tell me this will be a long campaign rather than a quick victory,” Gregor inquired.

Cordelia smiled, “I’d be worried about the girl if it weren’t.”

Gregor’s next question was interrupted by a dejected looking Miles who entered the room. Miles was covered up to his chest in dried mud. He heaved a heavy sigh and sank unto the couch next to Gregor.

Gregor and Cordelia exchanged a look. They were both used to Miles’s melodramatic moods. Cordelia permitted herself a small smile.

“Did you have some difficulties today, Miles?”

“I swore I’d hunted down Cavilo’s man. I found some unusual messages between an ImpSec analyst, Captain Vorperria and an Emil Rotha. I thought it was too neat, that Cavilo had given herself away by choosing a name similar to the one I had met her under initially. But after we finally pinned him down it turns out Vorperria was not in league with Cavilo. He was selling secrets to the Nuevos Brasilianos,” Miles howled.

“Why,” Gregor inquired, he tried to remember who Vorperria was and whether he’d ever actually met the man.

“Apparently he ended up in a compromising position with one of their agents, one of their male agents. They blackmailed Vorperria into trading secrets in exchange for keeping his taste in sexual partners quiet,” Miles said.

Cordelia shook her head, “Barrayarans! You would remove one possible blackmailing tool and help solve the vor marriage problem if you just recognized gay marriage.”

Gregor rubbed his face, he’d heard this argument before. He also knew that half of his counts would keel over dead if he so much as raised the issue. 

“So you have solved the problem of one leak but not the problem of Cavilo,” Gregor summarized.

Miles nodded, then looked Gregor over, “and what are you doing here Gregor? I thought Xiomara was being brought up to the Residence.”

“She was. Then she decided she wasn’t and kidnapped your mother,” Gregor explained.

Cordelia smiled, “it was more of a surprise tour of Vorbarra Sultana really. She did promise to recognize my rights under the Hegen Hub convention at least.”

“So she’s here,” Miles asked.

“Unless Xiomara has tried to escape again. I hope not though, there has been very little research done on what being stunned does to the brain. I haven’t seen anything on the effects of repeated stunnings on a juvenile brain. But it can’t be good for her,” Cordelia noted.

“Still better than leaving her with Cavilo,” Miles said. Then more hesitantly he asked, “so what happened to the fellows who were sent to guard her… are they still alive?”  
“Yes. Unless they kill themselves out of embarrassment or as a form of expiation,” Gregor said.

Miles wasn’t the only melodramatic subject. 

“Has she said anything more about Cavilo’s plans,” Miles asked.

Cordelia shook her head, “more about Cavilo’s parenting style, and more of it was things Xiomara didn’t say.”

“Worse than Ser Galen’s,” Miles inquired.

The countess sighed, “there are so many shades of madness that I hardly dare compare one to the other… I suppose if I did though I would note that Geln was single-minded in his madness. His goal, albeit twisted, was to save Komarr. Cavilo seems only out for herself with not ideals to guide or warp her thinking. Mark was raised with the Barrayaran empire as his enemy but Xiomara… I suppose her enemies were more numerous and faceless considering what I know of Cavilo’s tendency to double-cross her employees and employers.”

Yes, Gregor could see Cavilo instilling this idea that everyone was an enemy or a potential mark to their daughter at a young age. That would assuredly warp a child’s thinking.  
Gregor rubbed his head, feeling a migraine of his own coming on. 

Not that he had time for that. There was too much that still needed to be done.

 

Xiomara had climbed out of bed a short time ago, slightly less jump-lagged than she’d been before. She’d looked out the window and immediately noticed the presence of a new aircar in front of the house and a number of additional men, some wearing camo, some wearing black and silver.

So Vorbarra must be here, she decided. Right well she should just go down and meet him. Yes sir, just walk up to the man and – and what? Challenge him to a fight for kidnapping her? Hug him for being her long lost father? Swear unholy allegiance to his regime?

Certainly there was a manual somewhere for how to meet one’s wealthy and powerful long lost emperor-father. Hell there were certainly vids and books about this very topic. Too bad they usually bored Xio to tears. She really should have been taking notes. 

Alright, well no need to be nervous about this. Talking to her emperor-father should be simple. Just walk up and punch him in the face to assert dominance. 

Maybe crash through a skylight. Was there a skylight in the downstairs room? Yeah, something loud and attention getting to distract from the awkwardness of the situation, she thought.

She just needed to escape this room undetected and –

There was a short knock at the door.

Damn, so much for that.

The door opened to reveal Countess Vorkosigan and a tall, somber looking man. So that maid who had come in a few minutes ago had ratted her out, Xio thought.

“Oh, good, you are awake. Xiomara, I wanted to introduce you to your father, Lord Gregor Vorbarra,” Countess Vorkosigan said amiably as she indicated the man next to her.

On cue, Gregor offered her a small smile. It was so disgustingly... welcoming.

Xiomara groaned aloud. 

“Here you are, all saccharine sweet. Didn’t you know I was a diabetic,” Xiomara asked.

She would almost prefer it if the emperor had just thrown her in a dungeon. At least they wouldn’t have to go through this. Gah, there might be hugging, she thought with growing concern.

“Not from the way you drank your tea,” the countess observed.

Xio made a face, “you heard what I meant. Let’s just get this over with, and I want a bare minimum of physical contact. There’d better not be any awkward hand kissing or hugging, you hear me?”

The countess and the emperor exchanged a look.

“I’ll leave you two to talk,” the countess said, letting herself out of the room.

Xio rolled her eyes and slumped down, to sit cross legged on the bed.

“Well you can’t be here for information, you could just go back to the interrogation vids for that,” Xio said.

The emperor sighed and seated himself in a chair across from her, “I am sorry that your initial introduction to Barrayaran culture was to be kidnapped by Imperial Security. But you understand it would have been astronomically difficult to speak with you otherwise and my men had a very limited time window in which they could act.”

“Right… so you somehow found out about me. I’m guessing it was because of the UGF and their hippy-bullshit ideas about age of maturity and guardianship. Then you panicked because you thought I was going to try to steal your throne, so then you kidnapped me because you thought you might have to kill me,” Xio summarized.

Gregor did not visibly wince, but he was slow to respond, “I wish it was simpler Xiomara. I want to do my paternal duty by you, in whatever form that takes. But I cannot separate Gregor Vobarra, your father, from Gregor Vorbarra, the emperor.”

Xio nodded, “Ok, I can work with that. So then we should be doing less talking and more stopping my mother. Have you found her accomplice yet? Have you sent people to intercept and blow up her ship?”

Gregor looked her over, but his expression remained blank, “her accomplice has not been located yet, nor has her ship.”

“Well then what are you doing here? What am I? I should be out hunting that bastard down. But I’ll probably need a native guide, can I have a native guide? Someone who can understand any surly comments muttered in Russian or Greek,” Xio inquired.

“I have other individuals who are handling these aspects of the situation,” Gregor noted.

“Well that’s not going to matter a damn bit if Cavilo gets through your defenses,” Xio noted.

“With all respect to your abilities Xiomara, do you think it might be better and more… covert if I had pre-established agents handle this matter,” Gregor inquired.

“Oh my god, is this because I burned down that temple? Look, I just want to be clear that it wasn’t a hate crime. I just needed a diversion,” Xio explained in exasperation.

Gregor stilled, “I beg your pardon.”

“Oh. I guess it wasn’t about that. Well nevermind. So what do you propose I do then? Just hang out and wait to see if we all get horribly murdered by a super disease,” Xio demanded.

Gregor still seemed distracted by her previous comment, but continued valiantly nonetheless, “I did not say you could not be involved. I merely thought it would be wise for you to set up a base of operations and catch yourself up on our current intelligence before going off on your own.”

“Oh, like I could stay at the Imperial Security headquarters,” Xio asked. 

“Actually, I was thinking of the Imperial Residence,” Gregor said.

“Why are you trying to put me in a cage,” Xio asked in annoyance.

She realized only after looking at Gregor’s surprised face that she’d said that out loud.

“I mean, look on Kumara there are girls of the Nepalese ethnicity who are chosen to be living goddesses. Now they’re worshipped, their advice is sought and they are considered a great honor to the family. That’s great and all but they’re also not allowed out of their homes. Any education they receive or medical treatment they need has to be done in the home. They don’t have friends during that time period, only worshippers. Even their family isn’t really their family while they’re considered a goddess. It’s damn creepy. Fortunately they grow out of the role and eventually get to go on and do other stuff. But come on. You said it yourself you’re not your own person, you’re the emperor. It’s like… ,” Xio paused and wondered if she’d overstepped her boundaries. Well of course she had, she thought. But by how much?

Gregor offered a lugubrious smile, “I understand, I often thought of my duties as a prison of sorts in my youth.But I have found that my situation was improved by a change in viewpoint. I am free to abdicate the throne. I can only imagine the death toll on Barrayar alone if I ever did such a thing, but it is possible. The chains you seem to see on me are self-imposed and not the sort you’ll ever wear. I… you do understand that you will never inherit the throne regardless of what happens to me?”

Xio blinked at that, “well thank god, I hadn’t even thought about that insanity. Could you imagine? Hell sometimes I set the cereal on fire when I put it in the nanowave. Who knows the unspeakable damage I’d do if I was in charge of a planet.”

“Why would you put cereal in the nanowave,” Gregor asked in confusion.

“I like warm cereal, ok? Don’t judge me,” Xio declared.

“I wasn’t. I was merely curious,” Gregor stated. 

Silence.

“I was being serious when I invited you back to the Residence,” Gregor said, returning patiently to the initial issue.

“I don’t know. Did you clear this with your wife? I’m not going to get sleep stabbed am I? That’s the worst kind of stabbing,” Xio declared.

“Is there a good kind of stabbing,” Gregor asked in confusion.

“Erm, I guess. I mean there’s the kind of stabbing where you think you’re going to get murdered but it turns out your host was just getting ready to cut up a cake,” Xio said.

Gregor said nothing.

“Because then you’re like ‘oh good I didn’t get stabbed and now I have cake’ so on the one hand you’re happy to be alive and on the other you now have free food,” Xio continued.

“I see,” Gregor said slowly and in a fashion that suggested that he did not see at all.

“Don’t ask how many times this has happened,” Xio said trying and failing to diffuse the alarm in Gregor’s face.

Crap. Think of a distraction. 

Nothing nearby to set on fire, she thought, briefly looking around.

“Well I mean you’ve got kids don’t you? Wouldn’t it be confusing to introduce me now? We could just quietly ignore this mess until it, er, I disappear” Xio suggested.

“It would hardly be more awkward than explaining you to them if I send you away. Come now, what are you afraid of,” Gregor inquired.

“Dogs, those robot vacuum cleaners, um water,” Xio stated wondering how crazy was crazy enough to get out of staying at the residence while avoiding a mental asylum.  
Gregor smiled at this, “are you a cat? We have those at the Residence. I assure you the staff spoils them mercilessly.”

Xio had tried getting out of this, she really had. But the emperor seemed dead set on bringing Xio back with him. Who the hell knew why the man thought this was a good idea because Xio knew it wasn’t. Not that she had the personnel to back him in a fight and reason wasn’t working on the emperor.

Xio sighed, “Well, I’d better be updated constantly on this Cavilo situation at least.”


	10. Chapter 10

Xiomara woke as the aircar settled down inside the gates of the Residence. She realized with a hefty dose of horror that she’d curled herself up against Gregor while she was sleeping. Well, holy lobster biscuits, how the hell had that happened she wondered. They’d been on opposite sides of the car, she’d closed her eyes and bam! Surprise naptime.   
Now she was left with the awkward question: had she drooled on him? Was that considered an insult? Did people get punished for drooling on the emperor while sleeping? Did people get punished for sleeping on the emperor? 

“Sorry,” she blurted moving herself back towards her side of the car and opened the door even as an armsman in black and silver moved to open the door for her.

Gregor stepped out on his own side. At least he didn’t look miffed at the invasion of personal space. He looked… what? Hungry? Constipated? Bewildered? Bored?God, he was so hard to deal with considering his stupid unreadable expressions. 

Gregor finally spoke, “you must be quite jump-lagged…. I had wanted to introduce you to my wife Laisa. But perhaps it would be best to introduce you to her and the boys tonight at dinner. I imagine you might prefer to get settled in first. Why don’t I show you to your room?”

He turned and headed towards the entrance to the residence. As he did so the doors were opened by two armsmen, one holding open each door. 

Well damn, if you just got this place automated you wouldn’t have half so many people crawling around Xio thought. Of course maybe Gregor was employing half of Vorbarra Sultana with jobs, XIo decided as she entered the building. If he started firing people he’d probably single handedly cause a great depression and leave hundreds if not thousands to starve to death since they had no hope of employment elsewhere. After all, what did professional door openers do with their lives after doors could open themselves?

It seemed a very philosophical question and one Xio didn’t feel like handling just now.

“Do I get to pick my room,” Xio asked.

Gregor considered this, “we have plenty of rooms should you want a specific one. Did you have somewhere specific in mind?”

What Gregor seemed to be asking was whether Cavilo knew the layout of the Residence. How else would Xio have a specific room in mind? Damn politicians, can’t just come out and ask a question properly, Xio thought. 

Xio shrugged, “I don’t know. I was hoping for one with padded walls. Did any crazy relatives ever live here?” 

Gregor frowned at this. 

“This place has not remained a static structure over time. For instance the western wing was burned down during the Pretendership, a war started and led by the Count Vidal Vordarian some thirty years ago,” Gregor explained shortly.

Based on the tone of Gregor’s voice it seemed like a good idea to not continue in that vein of dialogue, Xio decided. Xio thought she ought to look up more information on this war. Maybe Cordelia would help her out with that.

“For the first night I had this room cleared out for you. It’s down the hall from mine and Laisa’s,” Gregor explained opening the door to a room on the second floor landing.

“Are there always this many people milling about, or is this for me,” Xio asked.

Gregor glanced over at Xio.

“I have a constant circus following me,” Gregor informed the girl.

The room which had been chosen for Xio was painted lavender with large windows that looked out unto the back gardens. Xio strolled over to the window to peer outwards. At least the view was interesting. Better than a prison cell too, she decided.

“I did take the liberty of having clothes made for you,” Gregor stated indicating a large box on the bed.

Xio looked over at Gregor and then at the box on the bed. She moved back over towards Gregor and opened it. 

There were a variety of colorful dresses all carefully folded and separately wrapped along with skirts and some stylish and ultra-feminine pants.

Xio held one of the dresses out in front of her and considered its length and cut. Xio liked dresses and these were cute. But typically she wore pants simply because it was easier to climb obstacles in them. Also, she could roundhouse people in the face while protecting her modesty in pants. 

“So… is there a non-creepy explanation for how you have my measurements,” Xio asked.

Like did you have your guys strip me down at some point while I was unconscious and then bust out the measuring tape, Xio wondered. That or maybe it was some dead chick’s clothing and Xio was getting hand-me downs that just happened to fit. 

“The seamstress based her measurements off of an image of you taken from one of the interrogation vids. Should the garments not fit we can have them altered,” Gregor explained shortly.

Xio studied Gregor sideways. Did he really think this was a normal way to behave? 

“Well ok then. Sounds fantastic,” Xio said, not quite able to hide the sarcasm in her voice.

They stared at each other. 

“I imagine you need some time to think. But the boys also have a bed time to maintain. I’ve informed the staff to have dinner ready in half an hour. One of the armsmen will escort you down around then,” Gregor stated.

Xio nodded but offered no comment. 

She waited for the emperor to leave before emitting a sigh. Somehow she imagined him doing the same thing on the opposite side of the door.

 

True to the emperor’s word a palace guard with a serious face arrived precisely thirty minutes later to lead Xio downstairs. 

Xio was surprised to find herself in a smaller side room with a round table and only five chairs. Here she’d pictured them yelling across an enormous table at each other or better yet, having servants relay their messages from one side of the table to the next, like in the holovids. Xio stifled her disappointment. 

The emperor was seated next to a plump woman with lovely blue-green eyes. That must be Laisa Toscane-Vorbarra, the empress, Xio decided. That or Gregor was being a very bad boy. 

The children weren’t present yet. 

The pair looked up at Xio’s arrival. 

“You managed to make it downstairs,” Gregor noted with a smile.

Laisa also offered a smile and was courteous enough to try and hide how strained she seemed to be feeling about this. From what little Xio knew about her Laisa was from a well to do Komarran family. She had probably gone to the best prep schools before becoming a member of her family’s company. 

Why did Xio suddenly feel like letting out her inner hoodrat? 

“I mean I tried sneaking out the back but your boy was very insistent,” Xio stated giving a nod to the palace guard.

“That didn’t happen Sire,” the guard declared with a stony face.

“Thank you Sasha,” Gregor stated, dismissing the man.

The guard didn’t look back as he left. 

“I see that aside from shooting any intruders, the guards are required to kill joy on sight,” Xio observed watching the man leave.

She was also checking out the surroundings. The room was decorated with what Xio thought must be original paintings of dead relatives.

Gregor said something that Xio only half caught. She leapt backwards as two little boys scampered into the room followed by a bookish looking woman who might be the nanny and a palace guard.

“Dada,” they squealed in delight running over to the emperor and climbing up on him as if he’d been gone for weeks instead of hours.

“Boys, we’ve spoken about this,” the nanny began.

“It’s alright. Thank you Dolores, Estevan,” Gregor stated turning and giving one, and then the other boy a side hug.

The children then dutifully scampered over to their preoccupied mother who ran her hand through the taller one’s hair.

“What did you boys do since I last saw you,” Laisa asked.

“We read some books with Nanny Dolores. Well I did, Petya got distracted and played with the blocks,” the taller one declared dutifully.

The smaller one pouted, “only a little. I practiced my reading first,” Petya insisted.

Gregor and Laisa smiled indulgently at the minor sibling squabble before breaking it up and shepherding the boys into their seats.

Xio watched all of this with growing dismay. So the little monsters were well liked by the parents? How could this be when they were so shrieky and their little hands were undoubtedly sticky and – and. Well Xio had never liked children, even when she was a child. So she couldn’t fully comprehend why Gregor and Laisa looked so much more… radiant when the kids busted in the room. 

Surely you see the little weasels every day, doesn’t that grind on you? How can you be like this, Xio wondered. 

“Xio, would you care to sit,” Gregor suggested.

Xio moved over to the chair on Gregor’s left and Petya’s right.

“I thought you had another child,” Xio said remembering having read something about a recent imperial birth announcement. Maybe it was the jump lag.

“Princess Kareen won’t be joining us,” Gregor stated.

“She’s only a baby,” the older boy, crown prince Xav, piped in helpfully.

Xio got the distinct impression that crown prince Xav was a little brown nose. 

“Who is she again,” Petya asked.

“Boys, you remember our talk earlier about your new sister, Xiomara,” Laisa said patiently.

“Yes, but the last time you told us we were getting a new sister she was younger than us,” Xav pointed out just as patiently.

“Xio is older because she is my daughter from a previous relationship,” Gregor explained.

“You mean you haven’t been married to mama since forever,” Petya asked incredulously.

Could this day be any more awkward? Really things would have gone much better if those damn Barrayarans hadn’t shot her while she was trying to steal from her mother. Then Xio could have come to Barrayar on her own terms, thrown the damn pathogen at Gregor and shouted “no backsies” before running off. That would have let him deal with this situation and would have let her avoid this whole nonsense. 

Xio considered the multitude of forks in front of her. Who the hell needed all of these forks?

Xio picked one up and started with the salad only to realize everyone was looking at her.

“Oh, do you people say grace or something,” she asked.

Xio hadn’t thought the emperor was particularly religious.

“After dinner, when Dada has time, we play board games with him. I asked if you wanted to play too,” Xav said glancing over at his father.

Little fucker is trying to game the system on me, Xio thought in irritation.

“That’s extremely magnanimous of you Xav, but I am planning on being extremely sick later so I don’t think I can accompany you,” Xio responded with a cheerful smile.

Gregor raised an eyebrow at this but did not comment. He turned the topic to some vid show the boys liked.

Fuck you, your mother, this bastard emperor and this mind game we’re all playing, Xio thought in annoyance.

The conversation continued around her. Xio counted down the time until it would be over. What she wouldn't give for an assassination attempt on the emperor right now.

“But what happened to her mama,” Petya asked Laisa in a voice that was meant to be quiet but which carried easily within the little room. 

The her in question as obviously Xio. Nobody had explained the insantiy that was Cavilo to the boys. Undoubtedly trying to protect their delicate sense of well being, eh Gregor, Xio thought. Not a problem Cavilo had ever worried herself with. Xio decided to handle the situation. 

“Cats ate her face. It was horrible. May I be excused,” Xio asked brightly.

Gregor who seemed fully aware that Xio was on the verge of something violent, acquiesced.

“Can you find your way back to your room?”

“That or I’ll die trying,” Xio declared getting up. 

She found her way back to the room with only a minor unexpected detour.

The room was colder than Xio remembered. That or she was really losing it.

Xio shook her head and made her way to the bathroom. She turned on the hot water for the tub and climbed in after pulling her clothes off. She left the garments in a crumpled pile. 

Lying in a tub of the hottest water that didn’t leave her with burns was the best thing she could think to do just now. 

Xio stayed there for a time, watching the steam rise and fog up the mirrors. 

She thought she heard something at one point but decided not to investigate. Perhaps it was a maid, or a palace guard XIo thought.

Maybe they’ll go away if they think I’m asleep she thought.

Such was not the case when the door opened to reveal yet another stone faced palace guard.

“I hope you’re not going to ask to join me in here,” Xio stated acerbically.

The man actually looked embarrassed at this and averted his eyes quickly, “no Lady Xiomara. The emperor your father requested that I check on you to see if you were in need of assistance.”

That meant one of three things, Gregor was either checking to make sure Xio hadn’t tried to run away or poison the family or Gregor thought Xio would try to off herself to avoid future family gatherings. Considering the emperor, maybe all those thoughts were going through his head.

“Yes, Could I get some paella,” Xio inquired.

The palace guard blinked at this before offering a slight bow, “erm, yes lady Xiomara.”

Xio stayed in the tub. She changed out the water several more times as it got cold before finally getting out. 

After toweling off and pulling on her clothes she stepped out into her room only to find Gregor there on the commconsole.

“I came in to wish you a goodnight but you were still in the bath,” Gregor stated looking up from the commconsole.

From what Xio could see it looked like Gregor was working on some kind of charts. But the numbers meant nothing to her.

“Shouldn’t you be frolicking with your children,” Xio asked dumbfounded.

“I put Petya and Xav to bed an hour ago. Did you not realize the time,” Gregor asked.

Xio glanced at a wall chronometer. 

“I was too steeped in my own misery, dragged down by the filth I found upon my soul and sought to clean it. Alas, like Lady Macbeth I’ve found that no matter how I try to wash the damnable spots from my conscience, soap and water do nothing,” Xio declared melodramatically before falling on the bed.

That ought to shut him up, Xio thought.

Gregor did not rise to the bait though.

Gregor calmly saved his program and exited before turning around to give Xio his undivided attention.   
“I can see that we won’t need to send you to acting classes. Are you fond of the classics? Perhaps tomorrow I can see to it that someone shows you the library.”

“ I’m sure I can find it on my own,” Xio said.

Gregor considered Xio, but offered no comment.

“Are you going to stay and read me a bed time story too,” Xio asked in irritation.

“No. Although I’ll read you one tomorrow with the other two if you would like. I should mention I’m not usually free during the day. But I am always present for dinner, barring a pressing emergency,” Gregor stated standing up and heading for the door. 

Xio said nothing.

Gregor paused in the doorway, “Should you need anything there is always a servant in earshot. Good night Xio.”

“Good night big G,” Xio said already turning away.

Xio lay on the bed, tired but suddenly unprepared to go to sleep.

Well, not so suddenly.

The idea that Cavilo or one of her cronies was somewhere embedded in the ranks of Gregor’s people had been percolating in her brain since they’d arrived.  
But how to catch him?


	11. Chapter 11

Miles waited patiently for Gregor to bring up the topic. But at the end of their discussion on Miles’s most recent findings: that the Jacksonian scientist who had made the pathogen had been killed and the notes for the experiment destroyed, Gregor seemed fit to dismiss his auditor. Miles’s curiosity got the better of him. That and the Koudelka sisters, and just about everyone else in Vorbarra Sultana was incredibly curious about the bastard princess.

“So how are things going with the girl,” Miles blurted.

Gregor seemed to consider the question before carefully reaching for another pastry.

“She seems to be slowly coming to terms with Barrayar,” Gregor said slowly.

Miles frowned at this guarded response. He was both offended and a little hurt that his foster brother was not taking him into confidence on the girl’s progress. Not that she’d likely had much progress, being that she’d only been on planet three days, Miles internally admitted.

But surely if Miles could handle being Gregor’s second at his wedding and godfather to Xav then he should know more about little what’s-her-name. He’d freakin saved Gregor from Cavilo! It wasn’t like he should be kept out of this.

At sensing Miles’s angst brewing Gregor relented somewhat, “I would be quicker to introduce Xiomara if I knew what to expect from her. She seemed to recover from her jump-lag quickly after the first day and has since been driving the armsmen and servants to distraction. She made a game of wandering the Residence and dropping things out of windows. Not unto people, thank God, but just… out of windows. She stole all the candle sticks and buried them in the gardens and the servants still haven’t found all of them. She broke into my office and moved everything a foot to the left. Then I caught her, literally caught her when she fell while scaling the outside of the building. If it’s boredom I could throttle her for these behaviors but… I don’t think it’s that. Should I say I don’t think it’s merely that.”

Miles frowned at this news and at the expression on his foster brother’s face. Was he worried the girl had some sort of compulsion which was causing her to behave this erratically? 

“There’s nothing wrong with a little OCD, wasn’t your great-great uncle Count Horatio Vorbarra known for being particularly fastidious,” Miles ask.

“You mean was he known for making his hands bleed from washing them too frequently and violently,” Gregor asked drily.

“There are medications for that now at least. I’m sure you can get it under control, whatever her problem is, before you introduce Xio to the public at large,” Miles said sympathetically.

Gregor seemed lost in thought.

“Is there more to it,” Miles prodded.

“I did not expect Xio to immediately warm to the boys or Kareen, but she barely sits in the same room as them,” Gregor admitted.

“Are you worried Xio would harm them,” Miles asked in concern.

Surely if the girl was dangerous Gregor would do the right thing… right? Of course guilt made people do odd things, perhaps Gregor was seeking to atone for the years Xio spent under Cavilo’s thumb. 

“I asked her once what she thought of the little ones and she ranted about them having sticky hands and being walking disease carriers. Normally I would say ‘let’s see what happens’ but that would be… that would be downright criminal in this case,” Gregor breathed.

A diffident knock came at the door.

“Enter,” Gregor called.

One of the servants opened the door. He carried a box with various objects in it, Miles spotted a candelabrum, book ends, a small metal vase and several hand mirrors amongst some other knickknacks. Were they cleaning out the attics? Surely a historian or seven should be here for that, Miles thought.

“Sire, you asked us to report if she did it again,” the servant said quietly.

Gregor sighed before standing up and taking the box of from the man.

“She’s been dropping things out of the windows again,” Gregor explained to a bewildered Miles.

“Thank you Vassili,” Gregor said acknowledging and dismissing the man.

“What are you going to do,” Miles inquired studying Gregor’s bland expression.

“I suppose I’ll go talk to her.There’s time enough between now and the infrastructure briefing,” Gregor mused.

“Perhaps I can help. I have some experience with girls,” Miles suggested.

It was true, Miles did have a daughter after all. He’d also talked Lilly Junior into escaping with him from House Bharaputra. Miles was a veritable teen girl whisperer. Wait, no, that sounded dirty. Anyway, he could definitely convince people who needed convincing. But most importantly, he wasn’t ready to be summarily dismissed. 

Gregor inquired as to where Xio was from an armsman. The man informed the emperor that she was in the upstairs library. 

They found her easily enough. She was seated in front of a commconsole with multiple screens open. One seemed to be playing a security vid from the re-opening of the Vorbarra Sultana natural history museum a few weeks ago. Another featured a half naked man dancing. The earpiece in Xio’s ear suggested she had the volume set to the earpiece alone. The third screen was some article she was reading. But the author’s name didn’t jump to mind as Miles glanced at the words over her shoulder.

She didn’t turn as Gregor approached her, nor did she flinch when he set the box down in front of her.

She very calmly took out the ear piece from one ear and looked up at him inquiringly.

“Xiomara, why were these items in the garden,” Gregor asked.

It was not quite the voice he used when giving a rare admonishment to Xav or Petya, but close. Gregor did not like to become the stern paternal Vorlord. But he was fully capable of it.

“It’s a basic law of physics, matter can be neither created nor destroyed, so it has to go somewhere,” Xio said flippantly.

Miles wondered if he should remind her that the emperor was fully within his rights to draft people at will and if she didn’t behave herself she might end up on a surprise training exercise on Kyril island.

“You could hurt someone with these little games,” Gregor noted.

“People could get hurt if your guards aren’t doing their job. I dropped those items a full half hour ago and it took them this long to find all of them. What if it wasn’t a candelabrum I dropped out a window, what if it was a time sensitive aerosolizable poison pellet,” Xio inquired getting up and rifling through the box on the table.

So she’d been testing Gregor’s security, Miles realized.

“Between Imperial Security and the palace guards every guest who enters the Residence is scanned, multiple times,” Gregor pointed out.

“Yes, but I’ve seen their scanners. They don’t detect every single poison ever made, just widespread ones. So what if my mother decides she doesn’t want to lug a huge ass canister with a dangerous pathogen around, what if she makes a quick stop off on Kshytria to pick up some fast acting and relatively unknown poison from the Kali clan or some planet with some other group of mercenary assassins,” Xio pointed out still pulling things out of the box.

“It’s not possible to guard against every contingency, believe me, ImpSec has tried,” Gregor stated with an exasperated look.

“With that attitude it’s a wonder you’re not dead yet. You know you’re people are missing that stylus I tossed during my walk in the gardens earlier,” Xio said.

Gregor raised an eyebrow. 

Miles was already picturing Xio in a career as a drill sergeant. Alternatively, maybe what she needed just now was a drill sergeant of her own. Someone to keep her occupied and out of Gregor’s hair.

“Also, what are you doing wandering away from your guards for extended periods of time,” Xio demanded stabbing an accusatory finger at the security vid she had playing.

“You are in a potential warzone buddy, you can’t be reading your kids bedtime stories over the commconsole,” Xio declared as an image of Gregor nodding politely as the foreign delegate from Yttria yammered on about something. Gregor in the vid then ducked out beyond the vid pick up.

“The re-opening of the Vorbarra Sultana natural history museum hardly constitutes a war zone,” Gregor said.

“How do you know Gregor went to read to the children,” Miles asked curiously.

It was a reasonable assumption, Miles admitted. But one there seemed to be no direct evidence for.

“Well I could suggest he was banging one of his mistresses, but G-money gets mad every time I suggest that he even has one,” Xio said rolling her eyes. 

“I can not have you or anyone else so much as suggesting I have a mistress because it is a stain upon my honor and more importantly it is a stain upon my marriage which god knows is fraught with enough political peril already. You do not need to be adding more incendiaries to it,” Gregor said.

Miles frowned at this, he’d thought things had quieted down after the boys were born. Even the conservatives should be happy there were an heir and a spare present. Were there more issues that Miles wasn’t even aware of?

“It’s not important. Look, you wandered off with only a guard in tow, and you had him sit outside the door while you talked to the kids. Don’t tell me it was just this event where you pulled this stunt either. I’ve seen the vids for at least three dozen events over the past two years. I know this is a bad habit of yours,” Xio said.

“Everyone has their vices,” Gregor noted, with only a hint of bitterness.

“You don’t know that Cavilo is aware of this,” Miles pointed out. If Cavilo didn’t know then she couldn’t exploit this weakness.

“No, but I don’t know if her man is aware of this either. He could very well be waiting for Big G’s next outing to knife him. Hell you don’t even know who her confederate is, it could be a high vor lord, it could be a waiter. Better assume everyone is guilty until I say otherwise,” Xio insisted.

“Easy there Torquemada,” Miles murmured.

“Xiomara, while ImpSec would undoubtedly agree that I ought to hide in the Residence until Cavilo is found and dealt with, I cannot run an empire like that,” Gregor stated.

“Well if you can’t run an empire from in here how am I supposed to run an investigation? I should be out on the ground, finding clues and hunting down traitors,” Xio exclaimed. At this moment Xio reminded Miles of a puppy trapped in a cramped apartment.

Gregor stilled, ran a hand through his hair and asked, in an extraordinarily patient voice, “Xiomara, is this an elaborate attempt to leave the Residence?”

Xiomara made a face, much akin to the face Xav made when he had been caught opening a winterfair gift early last year.

“I mean, it’s all true. Your people aren’t as vigilant as they could be and you really shouldn’t be wandering off without your guard. You should especially not be making a habit of it unless you want my mother to win,” Xio said.

“Can you think of an easier method,” Gregor asked.

“Well, while your guards aren’t as fast as they could be, I’d still have to contend with shutting down the force shields without anyone noticing,” Xio theorized aloud.

“Would something else work,” Gregor asked.

“Trying to steal one of the Residence’s lightflyers also looked like a no-go considering how armed to the teeth your pilots are,” Xio said.

Gregor waited.

She hesitated then continued, “Considering that you have an in house physician I can’t exactly fake an illness and get transferred to ImpMil, unless I did something to really mess myself up but that would be counterproductive.”

“Did you think you could just ask me,” Gregor inquired.

Xio looked as if Gregor had suggested using a spoon to tunnel to South Continent.

“Sonuvabitch G-money. Are you serious,” Xio asked.

Gregor considered her, “I am willing to permit you some limited trips outside the Residence with supervision. As you become more… at home with social etiquette we can discuss further activities. For now I suppose I can call on Lady Alys to see if she has the time to take you out for tea later today.”

“Right... I'm sure Lady Alys is great and all but I don’t need a babysitter,” Xio complained.

“I didn’t say you needed a babysitter, I said she was taking you out to tea,” Gregor explained reasonably.

Miles wasn’t sure if this was a good time to remind the kid that Gregor could always change his mind. Best to just run with it now girl!

Xio sighed but then decided not to continue this battle.

“Alright fine. But who do we call if we get arrested?”

Gregor’s eyebrows went up, “Why would you get arrested?”

Xio shrugged, “I don’t know. These things just happen sometimes… stupid local law enforcement. They’re always ruining the fun stuff.”

Then she considered Gregor’s face.

“I probably shouldn’t have that out loud,” Xio said.

She nodded to herself, “right, I’m going to go try on dresses and practice my curtsy for Lady Alys.”

Xio scurried out.

“Is it considered attempted assassinaiton if Xiomara tries to kill you by giving you a heart attack with her antics,” Miles wondered aloud.

Gregor snorted, “if that was true your father would have had to execute you for the same crime when you were a teen. Remember how you were only supposed to visit your grandmother on Beta Colony when you were seventeen?”

They stared at each other.

Right, Miles thought so maybe he wasn’t one to talk. 

Miles shifted uncomfortably.

“Is she always that, erm, enthusiastic,” Miles asked.

“Mmm, she has an excess of energy and no idea what to do with it. Xiomara is like a squirrel who has been given several med-pack stimulants and then released,” Gregor said with a sigh.

His chrono went off.

“My next crisis has come up already,” Gregor noted.

Gregor looked more amused than exasperated at least, Miles thought.


	12. Chapter 12

“Xiomara is such a lovely name, does it have a meaning,” one of the women seated across from Xio asked.

Xio was careful to finish her pastry before answering the question, Lady Alys seemed very strict about not eating with one’s mouth full. Of course Lady Alys seemed strict about a variety of rules of etiquette, so this was hardly surprising. Xio had wondered if Gregor was secretly trying to punish her by sending her off with this particular duenna.

“It’s a Spanish permutation of the Germanic Wigmar, it means famous in war,” Xio said with just a hint of pride. OK, a whopping dose of it, but she tried really hard not to let it show so that counted right?

The ladies across from her raised their eyebrows at this.

“Did your mother give you a boy’s name,” the other woman asked.

A slight tightening of Lady Alys’s lip was all Xio noticed in terms of a response to the woman’s absurd question. These two women were apparently high vor, Countess Vorparidjis and her daughter in law Lady Vorparidjis, if Xio remembered correctly. One would think that since they had tons of money they would be out exploring the galaxy or having lightflyer drag races. Instead they had invited themselves to sit with Lady Alys and her charge after finding out who Xiomara was. 

Lady Alys had made several oblique and less than oblique comments about how she and Xio were really quite busy, but the women had insisted on joining and now seemed to refuse to leave. Xio figured it was below Lady Alys’s social rank for her to be caught shooting at the women across the table from them. No, the vor lady method seemed to be to suffer quietly rather than put up a fight. Which was stupid really because hands down Xio knew she could take the pair. Though their armsmen might prove a bit of a problem, XIo thought glancing at the two men who were seated at a different table. They were close enough to jump and offer immediate assistance, but far enough away to give the women privacy to gossip.

“It’s a girl’s name,” Xio insisted.

“Ah, well it merely seems odd. But then women here aren’t required to join the military. Our men are fully capable handling all foreign and domestic threats,” Countess Vorparadjis said with a certain smugness.

Xio got the impression that she was being insulted.

“You mean you can’t join the military because women aren’t allowed. Which is stupid and not something I wouldn't put up with,” Xio said.

“Does your father the emperor plan to change this rule,” Lady Vorparadjis asked with a gleam in her eye. She looked ravenous for a sliver of gossip of that caliber it seemed.

“The emperor has voiced no plans to alter current military law,” Lady Alys put in, quickly quashing that particular rumor. 

But once done she leaned back, as if returning to her self-enforced silence. Xio was beginning to get the impression that Lady Alys was viewing this interaction with the two women as a surprise test. Xio couldn’t help but feel irritated not only by this lack of support.

“I’m just saying that if you want something changed you have to do it yourself. I say dress up like a man and join the military then do a better job than any man on your side. Then when they’re pinning a bunch of medals on you bam! Flash ‘em your boobs and point out that you were a woman the whole time! That’ll stick it to ‘em,” XIo declared.

Of course, the last time she’d dressed up like a man, won a duel, and saved the beautiful maiden, things hadn’t worked out well. After the mob found out the beard she was wearing was fake they’d gone from admiring her skill to trying to lynch her. But these women didn’t need to know that, Xio decided firmly. 

The younger Vorparadjis couldn’t manage to stifle her giggle. The elder looked at Lady Alys who now had her head in her hands.

“There’s only so much you can do,” the elder murmured glancing up at Xio.

It was another insult, likely suggesting that since Xio hadn’t been properly raised as a vor maiden she would never grow into the role. They’d already gone on about how magnanimous Gregor was for letting her into his household. XIo wanted to point out how magnanimous she was for not shoving a foot up the asses of these two women.

“I have to go,” XIo said abruptly standing up.

“Where are you-“ Lady Alys began in exasperation.

“Necessito orinar, mujer,” Xio shouted backwards as she stormed off to the lav.

Once in there Xio realized she wouldn’t go back. No way she’d control herself from decking one of the witches. Besides, why willingly torture yourself like that? For respect from some parent who likely was never going to be impressed anyway? Hell no, she’d done that enough before. She wasn’t putting up with that again. With only a little effort she managed to sneak past the women and out the front entrance. Well, alright, Xio caught Lady Alys watching her as she made her escape. But the woman didn’t raise a hue and cry. Maybe she also felt it was better if Xio didn’t come back. 

Xio made it out onto the sidewalk before running smack into a plainclothes ImpSec officer.

“Lady Xiomara, your main escort is upstairs,” the man politely noted.

“We decided to call it a day and they all agreed it would be a good idea if I took a break and saw some of the sights. Alone,” Xio said trying to get around him.

“I would feel better if I reported this,” the man said, obviously not believing her but being too polite to say so.

“I would feel better if you didn’t, and aren’t you here to serve me,” Xio asked.

“I serve your father, the emperor,” the man said with a slight frown.

Xio sighed, she really needed someone to explain how these oaths and things worked. If the man was sworn to Gregor did that not mean he was sworn to Gregor’s family as well? How far did that go? Could Gregor order a man to punch himself in the face? 

“Well my father the emperor and I are on basically the same brain wavelength so talking to me is just like talking to him and I think he would agree that I need a break from gossiping with the other women upstairs,” Xio insisted.

She tried to get around the man again but he continued to block her.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you leave,” he said firmly.

“What’s your name,” she asked.

“Lieutenant Anton Grekov,” he admitted reticently.

“Listen Grekov, if you make me go back up there you’re basically consenting to let them torture me. DO you want to be responsible for torture?”

“Lady Xiomara, I believe you are exaggerating,” Grekov said still looking stern. Stern but uncertain, Xio decided. Grekov was a young man, possibly fresh out of the academy and probably the junior most man on this detail based on his behavior. 

“Have you sat in a room where the air is stale and stifled and women sit around you rattling on about how so-and-so cheated on so-and-so? Have you been forced to endure talk on topics so dull you’d rather gouge your eyes out with rusty forks just so you could feel something, just as an excuse to get out of there? Because that’s the situation that you would be sending me back to Grekov. Are you really that kind of a monster,” Xio demanded.

Grekov’s resolve was waning.

“Do you want to explain to my father the emperor why I don’t have eyes anymore,” Xio demanded.

Grekov sighed in resignation, “I suppose a few minutes outside would harm no one. But I will accompany you.”

 

 

“So would you have to take a plasma blast for the emperor,” Xio asked.

“Of course,” Grekov answered.

“Would you have to take a plasma blast for a pix of the emperor,” XIo asked  
.  
“Erm, no,” Grekov stated.

“What about a painting of the emperor,” Xio asked.

“No,” Grekov said.

“What if it was like, a super priceless painting that the emperor really liked,” Xio asked.

Xio was beginning to suspect that Grekov had undergone surgery to have his sense of humor removed. Though she supposed she couldn’t complain, he was very patient with her and they’d wandered further than she thought she’d get with him. They were out near the star bridge, able to overlook the river which was sparkling in the afternoon sun.   
Grekov for his part was looking past her now with an expression of exceptional concern. Xio followed his gaze to see a young woman on the wrong side of the barrier separating the river from the footbridge they were on. It looked to be a long way down.

“Miss,” Grekov called as he walked towards the young woman. He paused briefly to glance back at Xio, obviously torn between his primary duty and this new concern. 

Grekov seemed the sort who would rescue a small kitten from a tree for a little old woman even after a grueling day at work.

Xio sighed and followed him along towards the woman, well girl really. She probably wasn’t any older than Xio.The girl was also wearing an exceptionally beautiful white dress with flowers printed across it. She also seemed particularly distraught.

The girl turned to Grekov’s voice and only managed to look more distraught. A difficult feat considering that she was already barely hanging unto the walkway and the way down wasn’t exactly an easy one.

“Oh my – Oh, please stay back,” the girl called.

Xio paused, had they interrupted some bomb disposal task force? Surely that was the only reasonable explanation for dangling over a foot bridge and requesting people to stay back, wasn't it? Well that didn’t make any sense, first where was the bomb, second why didn’t this girl have the proper tools for dealing with the situation if she was defusing a bomb?

“Miss, is everything alright,” Grekov asked, somewhat lamely.

“Obviously its not alright or this bimbo wouldn’t be hanging off a bridge. Are you even trying,” Xio asked him, trying to keep her voice down so the girl didn’t hear them.

Grekov looked a mix of embarrassed and annoyed, “well I don’t know. I didn’t get trained for these sorts of things in the academy.”

Grekov tried to move closer.

“Please stay back, or- or I’ll jump,” the girl called.

“Isn’t she going to jump anyway? Not much of a threat,” Xio observed quietly.

Grekov overrode all codes of conduct for a gentleman and actually scowled at Xio.

“This is a serious situation. How can you take this so lightly,” he demanded.

Xio rolled her eyes, then more loudly called out, “you know you crap yourself when you die!”

The girl, who seemed ready to fend off anymore well meaning but ineffective comments from Grekov almost fell when she heard Xio’s comment.

“What,” she asked in surprise.

“It’s true, tell her lieutenant Grekov. When you die you lose all control of your bowels and well, stuff goes everywhere. Did you remember to go to the bathroom before getting up here? No point in getting yellow and brown all over that nice white dress,” Xio observed.

“Lady Xiomara,” Grekov hissed.

“Oh, for the love of- Grekov, pay attention. Don’t you notice this girl is wearing her best outfit, she’s got her hair done really nicely and she’s wearing makeup. Makeup for God’s sake to her own fucking suicide. This isn’t a I-have-a-terminal-illness-and-deserve-to-die type mindset this is a my-boyfriend-broke-up-with-me-and-I-want-to-die mindset,” Xio said.

The girl blinked at this and seemed chagrined that her motives were so obvious.

“You obviously have never been in love. You wouldn’t understand,” the girl declared.

“Right… was his penis magical? Could it cure cancer? Because I do not understand why he was so damn important that he’s worth killing yourself over. There are how many more men than women on this planet? It’s not like it would be difficult for you to find a new boyfriend,” Xio said.

“I can never have another boyfriend. It wouldn’t be the right,” the girl said sadly.

Was this chick serious, Xio thought in irritation.

“So… you had sex and then he dumped you, am I getting this correct,” Xio asked.

The girl seemed ready to cry now, “I’m up on this ledge and all you can think to do is mock me?”

“Why am I mocking you? Because you’re not a virgin anymore? Come on, who cares? Grekov do you care that she’s not a virgin?”

Grekov looked particularly stiff and wooden at this conversation. Obviously he had no idea how to handle questions on female sexuality.

Xio was getting ready to kick him when he responded.

“No, of course not. That fellow was a cad for taking advantage of you,” Grekov said firmly.

“See, so it’s totally fine. Now just climb right back over that barrier and-“ Xio began.

“It’s fine for you to say that, but you don’t know what it’s like,” she said.

“Of course I know what it’s like. When I got married my husband tried to kill me on our wedding night because I wasn’t a virgin,” Xio exploded.

Grekov’s eyes bulged out. Oh damnit, was he mortified because she’d been married or because she wasn’t a virgin? Either way this was undoubtedly getting back to Gregor. Which, on the plus side meant he wouldn’t try to have an awkward sex talk with her, she supposed.

“What happened,” the girl asked.

“Well he went for his plasma arc and I ran for the door. Long story short I shoved him into a deep ravine and now he’s dead. Hopefully. That or this is the beginning of some horror movie type bullshit,” Xio said.

She glanced at Grekov and wondered if she really should stop incriminating herself like this. Oh well.

“The point is, you shouldn’t let someone else dictate what you do with your body. Because when you get to that point it’s no longer about you as a person it’s about you as a puppet and nobody needs to deal with that level of manipulative craziness,” Xio continued.

The girl looked sad, “I left a message on his commconsole asking him to meet me out here an hour ago.”

“Which is one more reason you’re wasting your time in jumping. He obviously doesn’t care about you, so why waste your time caring so much about him? You have better things to do. Like I don’t know, plot revenge,” Xio said.

The girl raised her eyebrows in shock at this idea  
.  
“This guy thinks he can just treat you like some doll he can play with then discard? Well you should show him whose boss. I say we raise an army, burn down his family’s ancestral home, salt the land and make him rue the day he ever dared cross you,” Xio suggested enthusiastically.

“Alternatively you could comport yourself like a lady, recognize that such men are beneath you and move on with your life,” Lady Alys said coming up from behind them.

Gah! Where had she come from and why hadn’t Grekov said anything?

“Right, so when you burn down his house no one suspects you,” XIo suggested.

“Xiomara, no fires. You don’t want to get law enforcement on the side of your opponent,” Lady Alys observed.

Then Lady Alys turned to the girl on the bridge and spoke in a kind but no nonsense manner, “of course we can’t discuss sensible recourse with you while you are dangling over the edge like that. Please come over here.”

The girl blinked and meekly obeyed.

With that little crisis averted, how much of this was getting back to Gregor and how much trouble was Xio going to get into for abandoning her post at the tea room? She sighed and followed Lady Alys, who had the girl in tow back towards the tea room.


	13. Chapter 13

Gregor paused briefly outside the room of his eldest child. It was late and he’d missed dinner with the family due to the death of Count Vortaine. Not that the death had been sudden, the man was eighty, old by harsh Barrayaran standards and had been ill for some time. He had already declared a successor, his oldest son. The transfer of power would not be tempestuous, thank God, but nonetheless it had needed to be done sooner than later.

He knocked once at the door and waited briefly before letting himself. The room was dark, but the window curtains were opened, this allowed light from the moon to enter and provide some illumination. He found Xiomara, fully dressed in a blouse and feminine trousers, fast asleep on her bed. He suspected she had been in the middle of something when she’d nodded off as a data pad lay on her chest. 

He paused briefly before moving over to gently remove the data pad from her hands. He turned the screen towards himself and found she'd been reading an article about the war of the Pretendership. He set the datapad on a night stand then turned back to pull the blankets on the bed up and over her.

“Aren’t I a little too old for this,” Xiomara said rubbing her face and sitting up. Her voice was thick with sleep.

“Too old to be looked after? Considering that I spend my entire life being looked after by ImpSec, the Palace guard and my own armsmen I’m afraid I must disagree with this idea,” Gregor noted.

“Right well, it’s really unnecessary, ok Big G? Besides aren’t you here for something else,” Xio said.

Gregor raised an eyebrow at her tone of annoyance.

“You wanted to give me a stern talking to about running away from Lady Alys or abandoning my post at the tea party or some such nonsense, right,” Xio continued impatiently.

Gregor tilted his head, “I did receive a brief report from Lady Alys on your ah, adventures today. She did comment that your interaction with Countess Vorparadjis and her daughter in law left something to be desired.”

Gregor continued even as Xiomara rolled her eyes at this and looked ready to say something nasty, “but she was impressed by how you comported yourself on that footbridge and how you successfully talked that young woman out of jumping. I am also very impressed by what you did.”

Xio blinked at this and for a moment her face looked bereft of her usual suspicion and cynicism towards him.

But the mask quickly slid back on and she brushed the air as if brushing away his comments, “so what’s the catch?”

Gregor shook his head.

“No catch, I’ve been thinking. You want more freedom to help find your mother and her pathogen, correct?”

Xio nodded, but still looked suspicious.

“Perhaps it’s time for you to have a public debut. How would you feel about attending the opera with Laisa and I the night after tomorrow?”

Xio looked far from impressed by this suggestion, “why would I want to go to the opera? I already know how it’s going to end, the audience wakes up and stumbles to their cars.”

Gregor smiled at this, he had to admit that some operas could be more interesting than others. It didn’t help that he was required to show no favoritism in whose shows he attended even if some were tortuously long winded and dull.

“It is important for people to see you in order to legitimize your place in the family,” Gregor explained.

Xio snorted, “I’m being used as bait aren’t I?”

“No more than I am using myself as bait. In truth I am wondering if Cavilo has warned her confederate of the sudden change in plans now that you have defined your allegiance. If it were another antagonist I was dealing with I would expect her confederate to be informed of the miscalculation in assuming you would be her willing accomplice. But considering Cavilo’s unwillingness to admit her mistakes coupled with her tendency to keep even her allies in the dark in case she needs to double cross them, I think it would be worthwhile to see if anyone shows a specific interest in you,” Gregor admitted. 

Xio studied him before nodding, “yeah, I guess if someone’s going to try to murder us he’d probably go for you first.”

Gregor offered a lugubrious smile, “I attempt to offer whatever comforts, however small, that I can manage.”

“Right. So, now that I’m handling this investigation can I have a sidekick,” XIo asked.

“You are not handling this investigation,” Gregor patiently pointed out.

“Which is stupid because obviously I know my mother better than any of you since I’ve spent the most time with her. So I should be in charge. I mean, I know you don’t want to hurt Vorkosigan’s feelings so I guess I could work with him as my subordinate,” Xio insisted.

Gregor briefly considered Xio’s request but decided it would be cruel and unusual if he really did assign Miles as her subordinate. 

He couldn’t decide if it would help the investigation if he instructed Miles to allow her to apprentice with the little auditor or if the two would be at each other’s throats. Certainly Gregor didn’t want to distract his imperial auditor from his job, but at the same time Gregor was getting reports that Miles was driving ImpSec crazy with his current search for Cavilo’s confederate.

“Perhaps it would be better if you gained instruction in how to properly handle an investigation before you decide to take commaned,” Gregor suggested.

“What? I know how to handle an investigation… sort of, I mean I like to watch murder mysteries,” Xio pointed out.

“Why don’t I go talk to Miles to see if he has time for an apprentice,” Gregor suggested.

Xio sighed at this, but did not argue with Gregor.

“I guess as long as I get out of this stupid house,” she muttered.

Gregor did not point out that he was trying to protect Xiomara by keeping her in the Residence. He was leery about being so cavalier with new found subjects. Gregor had never received the vids on what had been done to Mark after Ry Ryoval caught him while searching for Miles. Mark had those destroyed, and Gregor suspected this was done for good reason. He could not help but feel some guilt at having permitted Mark to leave for Jackson’s Whole and thus end up in Ryoval’s clutches.

Gregor suspected that while Cavilo lacked the experience to torture people in the way Ryoval had been reported to, that was not a comment on her willingness or creativity.   
Best to keep his children safe, even if they found it an inconvenience, Gregor thought as he said his goodnight to the girl who was already trying to brush him off again. 

 

“He looks pretty guilty,” Xio said looking over Miles’s shoulder at his commconsole where the the image of a man in green fatigues was on screen. Xio had been allowed over to the Vorkosigan house with the explicit instruction that she was not to distract Miles from his work and to be ready to leave for the opera with Miles in time for the beginning of the first act.

Miles gave the girl a look of exasperation, “you do understand that most of ImpSec is fast-penta proof don’t you? I can’t just haul him in without a plan.”

“The plan is to surprise him into confessing,” Xio insisted.

With the flick of a wrist Miles moved to the next image, an equally dour looking man.

“He also looks pretty guilty,” Xio said.

“Lady Xiomara, are those the only observations you can make? Didn’t your mother drop some hint as to who she would be making contact with? A high vor? A member of ImpSec? Perhaps one of the Emperor’s personal guard? Any information that is based in fact would be helpful,” Miles noted.

“I mean… it’s usually the butler,” Xio offered after a moment.

Miles glowered at her.

His commconsole’s alarm went off and Miles muttered something at seeing who was calling. He only hesitated a moment before answering the call.

“Sire,” Miles murmured as Gregor’s face came up.

Miles had not gotten out of going to the opera either it seemed. 

“Ah, good, you’re both together. Miles the first act begins in a few minutes. I merely wished to make certain that you two would be leaving soon enough to arrive before then,” Gregor stated in a voice that wasn’t quite casual.

Obviously the emperor didn’t want Xio climbing over the seats of other people to get to her place or to have to sneak in the back while the lights were down like some ragamuffin. Legitimacy was the key here and that meant entering when the lights were still up and everyone could see you walking in.

Miles looked for the briefest moment like a child who was told it was bedtime and wanted to plead for just five more minutes. Apparently nobody liked going to the opera, Xio decided.

But he seemed to swallow that request and offered a half bow from his seated position.

“Yes sire.”

Gregor offered a smile and cut the comm.

Miles frowned, glanced through a few more images with bios attached and then reluctantly stood and ushered Xio down the stairs and towards the groundcar.

“Oh,” Xio muttered as she realized who was set to drive it.

“You think he’s still mad at me for jumpkicking him,” Xio asked Miles sotto voce.

Miles blinked at this, and waved the question away, “Alois was a deep cover agent for ImpSec for years before this. I’m sure he’s used to being assaulted and has learned not to take it personally.”

Miles did not hesitate to climb into the ground car after Alois opened the door for them.

Xio followed him in. 

“So who is your prime suspect tonight? I mean you are going to this stupid thing to sniff out Cavilo’s compatriot, right,” Xio asked impatiently.

Miles tapped his fingers on the seat, “I have a few suspects in mind.”

“Like who,” Xio asked.

Miles hesitated, perhaps caught between revealing his intellect to an appreciative audience member and worrying that she’d do something drastic. But he relented.

“Stepan Vorshensky, the fifth son of Count Vorshensky seems to be in some dire financial straits. He’s also gotten himself into trouble by getting involved in a violent pro-democracy group. His father and some good lawyers talked him out of jail time,” Miles explained. 

“Cavilo’s not pro-democracy,” Xio noted wrinkling her nose.

“No, but she’s a hell of an actress and I wouldn’t put it past her to –“ Miles blinked, and made a face.

“What,” Xio asked.

“Alois, pull over a moment,” Miles instructed.

“There’s no space for that milord,” Alois noted calmly, the barrier between himself and the rear occupants was up. His voice came in over the commlink.

Xio glanced at Miles, both leapt for opposite doors only to find them shut and locked. 

“I knew it was the fucking butler,” Xio shouted trying ineffectually to punch through the divider.

Miles muttered an oath about not carrying a stunner, “you know Cavilo will kill you too. You won’t have a use after this.”

“I won’t need to be useful after this. I simply need my money and I’ll go,” Alois explained patiently as his passengers lost consciousness. 

With great care he pulled into a garage close to the Opera house and with minimal effort transferred his charges to a new, unmarked car before leaving with them.

He removed his uniform and called the autonumber on his wristcomm.

“Well,” a female voice demanded.

“I have the girl and the dwarf,” Alois stated, his Barrayaran accent slipping into Jacksonian.

“Excellent. Bring them to these coordinates,” the woman instructed.

“Now Xiomara, since you didn’t want to be my little emperor, I suppose you’ll have to be my little messenger,” the woman continued with a purr. She seemed to be speaking to herself. Alois did not dare to respond. He drove on.


	14. Chapter 14

Gregor tapped his fingers impatiently on the seat rest. It was already the middle of the first act and neither Xio nor Miles were anywhere in sight. At least no humorless ImpSec man had come to report them assassinated or dead in a car accident. Which only meant that Xiomara had distracted Miles or Miles had distracted Xiomara. Difficult to tell who was the bad influence on who.

“Sire,” a voice murmured quietly, for his ear alone.

Gregor glanced backwards to look up into the face of a humorless man with the eyes of Horus pinned to his collar.

It seemed he’d been too optimistic.

“Please come with me,” the man said urgently.

Laisa looked concerned but Gregor waved her back to her seat even as he stood and followed the man out of their box.

He waved his two palace guards back to their positions within the box as well.

“Might I have a word alone with you, Sire? There is some highly sensitive information you need to know about,” the man insisted.

Gregor sighed. Under the full light of the hallway it was abundantly obvious that while the man had been careful to dye the hair on top of his head blonde, his natural black hair was apparent in his unaltered eyebrows.

“Stepan, what are you doing,” Gregor asked as patiently as possible. Surely Stepan didn't think Gregor so daft that he wouldn't recognize one of his own subjects, even with the bad dye job. Really, Count Vorshensky was not a man known for his bookish intellect, but he more than made up with that with simple common sense. Something he had not passed down to his youngest son it seemed. 

Stepan Vorshensky did not make the wise decision to drop to his knees and beg for forgiveness while offering up any information he had. Instead the young man’s eyes widened and he jerkily went for the plasma arc holstered on his belt.

Gregor was more decisive in his actions, with one hand he caught Stepan’s wrist as the man tried to bring up the plasma arc to fire it. Gregor used the elbow on his other arm to smash into Stepan’s nose and send the man to the ground. 

Before Vorshensky hit the ground ImpSec agents appeared from thin air, plasma arcs at the ready. 

“Don’t shoot him. There’s little time to waste if Cavilo is on planet. Bring him to one of the side rooms, and call for fast penta,” Gregor instructed the agents as they disarmed and manhandled Vorshensky to his feet.

Gregor glanced over at another agent, “you, find out where Lord Miles Vorkosigan and Lady Xiomara Vorbarra are.”

The man nodded.

‘It was for the revolution. It had to happen, Cavvie said so,” Vorshensky insisted shakily as he was being led away.

Gregor did not bother to point out that the very pro-democracy party Vorshensky seemed to be a part of espoused genocide of the vor as the only way to truly give Barrayar a clean slate and a chance to create a democratic utopia. Similarly, working for Cavilo’s goals were synonymous with working towards one’s own death.

Well if the boy had a death wish, Gregor silently admitted that he might be willing to fulfill it if anything happened to Miles or Xiomara.

Minutes later the man he’d sent to find out where Miles and Xio were returned.

“Sire, the Vorkosigan groundcar was found in a parking garage near here,” the man stated.

“What about the tracking device in the necklace,” Gregor inquired.

Gregor had given the necklace to Laisa to give to Xio. It was an expensive and beautiful work of craftsmanship that the girl seemed to like. Gregor had made certain she wore it tonight. Not that he'd said anything himself, but a few compliments from the staff and the girl didn't argue with them. Gregor imagined that Xio would have pitched a fit if he’d mentioned that it served a purpose beyond being aesthetically appealing. She didn’t yet appreciate how necessary it was for a Vorbarra child to be easy to find.

“It appears to be located in the middle of a forest in Vorsmythe’s district,” the man reported.

A holo-map was pulled up and the necklace’s location placed.

“That’s no forest, that’s the location of one of the main bunker’s for the Barrayaran resistance during the Cetagandan invasion,” another, older ImpSec man noted. Colonel Jacobowitz was his name, Gregor noted.

Not old enough to have directly participated in that, but likely born only a few years after the invaders had finally been completely repelled, Gregor decided.  
He did not argue with the man’s assessment.

 

Cavilo scowled down at the monitor she was studying. She was displeased that her hostages were still unconscious. Alois did not understand why she wouldn’t simply kill them, pay him, and be done with it. He was beginning to suspect she was unmanageably unhinged. 

But then perhaps he should have known better when she’d found him and asked about his acting skills. He should have known he was in trouble when he was requested to pick up the mannerisms of an ImpSec agent, the real and now really dead Alois Verite. But when he had received the new face and the first half of his payment it had been more than he’d ever dreamed of seeing. He'd been tired of not merely being Houseless but being faceless. The money was enough to buy him a new face, not the face of a dead man, but a face of his own for once. A life of his own.

“They should have awoken by now, you are certain you have not used an excessive amount of the anesthetic,” Cavilo demanded.

“I merely did as I was told. It was your men who estimated how much they needed and thus how long I should let it run in the back of the ground car for,” Alois pointed out.

Cavilo got up to pace.

“Can’t we introduce them to the pathogen and leave them in the ground car for ImpSec to find? Wasn’t that the original plan,” Alois prodded.

Supposedly there was a member of the Vor here who was eager to help Cavilo to get on the throne. But while she smiled and voiced promises of trust and soft words of love in his presence, neither she nor Alois believed the whelp capable of anything more than talk. The plan then was to ease the emperor’s demise along by re-introducing his daughter to him after she had been infected with the aerosolized virus. 

The virus containment unit was to be opened and the virus was to be breathed in by the two victums. They were then set to be re-stunned, placed in the car and set to be found by ImpSec who would then turn the girl and the dwarf over to the emperor who would undoubtedly breathe in the viral particles. The plan was set and considering the high transmission capability of the virus Alois estimated that the plan had a high chance of succeeding. 

After the virus ravaged the emperor, the royal family and most of the capital Cavilo intended to make a grand entrance and present a vaccine to help cure those who would follow her and her lover, the Vorshensky whelp. 

Of course Cavilo did not merely wish to succeed, she wanted everyone around her to agonize as she succeeded. Hence this mad desire to mock her victims before she destroyed them, Alois decided uneasily.

Truly he might get better pay by killing this crazy bitch and returning the girl and dwarf to the emperor. Alois toyed with the idea even as he stood statue still, watching her.

A noise, a distant rumble made him sit up straight. 

He glanced at one of the ancient monitors. It had been built god knew who many years ago and was currently in a state of semi-disrepair. Cavilo had chosen this base for her operations because it allowed her to be close to the capital while still being relatively hidden. There were no major defenses to speak of. Just her band of ground troops scattered throughout the underground tunnels.

Alois swore at the image of Barrayaran shock troops placing explosives at the locked entrances to the building.

They’d be inside in little time.

He glanced at Cavilo who looked equally shocked.

“You told me you got rid of the tracking devices,” she snarled.

“I did. That’s why I switched cars and tossed their wristcomms,” Alois stated.

“Obviously there were more. Did some idiotic sense of propriety stop you from stripping them both down and searching more thoroughly,” Cavilo demanded.

Alois shrugged helplessly. He might be a murderer but he wasn’t a damn pedophile. He’d had no desire to paw over the little girl or the mishappen man any more than he had to.  
He was saved from having to verbally respond by the blaring noise of an incoming message alert.

Cavilo hit the button to accept the call, perhaps as much to see who it was as to shut the thing up.

The image of a man who was as pale as a bleached corpse came on. His dark suit only enhanced this paleness.

Alois felt panic well up in himself. 

Rather than panic, a smile crossed Cavilo’s face, “Greg, darling, I’ve been waiting to hear from you.”


	15. Chapter 15

“Cavilo, I had hoped you would take your second chance at life and do something meaningful with it,” the emperor stated coolly.

“You think what you gave me was a gift? I could have handed you over to the Cetagandans at any time during your captivity but I didn’t! I saved your man Vorkosigan from Stannis. We traded Greg, darling. We traded and you cheated me. I’m back to get what is owed to me,” Cavilo snarled.

“How? My men are at your door, breaking it down even now. I know you must have a small force with you, but not enough to stave off an entire army. Do your men know that continuing to stand with you is tantamount to suicide,” the emperor inquired, undoubtedly more for the benefit of Alois and the other soldiers present in the room with Cavilo than for Cavilo herself.

It seemed the emperor was testing to see if one of Cavilo’s men would be willing to sacrifice their commander if it meant survival for the rest of them.

Cavilo smiled at this, “I’ve already shown my crew the clips of the Solstice Massacre, they know what to expect in terms of Barrayaran mercy. Besides, you seem to quickly ignore that I still have my virus. Do your shock troops know that they’re sacrificing themselves? It only takes a small amount of my pathogen to cause sickness and death. Just a whiff, a sniff and they’ll be hacking their lungs up in a matter of days. Not just that, but if you don’t quarantine them fast enough that pathogen will spread like wildfire through the capital.”

The emperor narrowed his eyes at this comment, “what is this suicidal behavior about? When we met last you were determined to save yourself at all costs.”

“Perhaps it’s enough for me to know that I will destroy you and take you with me,” Cavilo declared maliciously.

Alois bristled at this, he didn’t want to go down with the crazed witch. Had this always been a suicide mission for her?

The emperor tapped his fingers on the desktop in front of him, “Stepan Vorshensky has been captured, there is no one else who is capable of coming to your rescue.”

A slight stiffening in Cavilo’s back was all Alois noticed. But it was enough to alert him to her shock at this news. Had she been bluffing when she said that it would be enough for her to kill the emperor even if it meant her death as well? Had she been hoping that the idiot boy would miraculously assassinate the emperor for them? Alois hardly knew, the woman told him so very little. 

“You think I would put all of my eggs in one basket,” Cavilo demanded.

“No, I see you have put them in multiple baskets, only these other baskets have steadily failed. You’d hoped Xiomara would do as you commanded, but she didn’t. You tried to cultivate Vorshensky, presumably to act as your puppet in power but he became overzealous and exposed himself too soon. I hardly know what you intended to do with our daughter and Miles, but you’ve been discovered before you could carry it out, thus ending that plan,” the emperor summarized.

“Ended that plan? Don’t be presumptuous Greg. They are still in my power and I can have them tortured and killed in front of you if I wanted,” Cavilo pointed out.

A nasty smiled crossed her face.

“Better still I can infect them and then release them into your care so you can decide to let them go through the agony of a slow death or personally kill them. Won’t that be fun? You could cuddle your little girl one last time before muffling her with a pillow. Perhaps you’ll even sing her a lullaby as you do it,” Cavilo suggested viciously.

The emperor stared searchingly at Cavilo, “she is your daughter too. Do you truly have no affection for her?”

“She has been nothing but a constant disappointment to me since she was born… though you seem to have become attached to her,” Cavilo noted.

The emperor did not comment on his feeling towards the girl or the dwarf.

“Then what do you intend to do now that we have reached this impasse? Surely you and your men realize the only options are surrender or death,” the emperor inquired.

Something attracted the emperor's attention away from the main screen. Alois glanced at one of their own monitors in time to note a Barrayaran assault team had just fallen victim to one of the needle grenade booby-traps.

“ Really Greg, why are we having this conversation over the vids. It’s so impersonal. We used to do all of our talking in bed. Do you remember the secrets we shared,” Cavilo inquired.

Alois did not know if this statement was true. It would explain the bit about their mutual daughter whom Cavilo seemed more than happy to kill. It did not explain her insane mission or why they hadn’t tried to escape yet. Though a woman scorned could be a dangerous thing, Alois admitted to himself. 

“I remember you claimed to have Lord Vorkosigan captive then as well. You were not always so gentle in mentioning what could become of him were I to try and find a way back to Barrayar without your help,” the emperor noted.

Cavilo’s lips thinned, “I should have known then what a two face little liar you were, damn politician.”

The emperor was too dignified to snort at the hypocrisy of this comment. Alois was too terrified at what Cavilo would do to mock the woman. 

“Do you think I’m capable of ending the lives of Xiomara and Vorkosigan? Would you like to watch,” Cavilo asked.

She reminded Alois of a wounded animal, backed into a corner. 

Who the hell knew what she would do. But if she killed the hostages there would be no reason for the Barrayarans to break in. Alois could already picture the troops pulling back, the Barrayarans simply blowing the base and Cavilo’s pathogen to hell. Even Alois knew this doomsday virus wouldn’t survive in the heat of a massive plasma bomb.

Alois was beginning to think that the only way he and the other crew members would survive was if they handed the emperor the crazed woman’s head and begged for leniency.

He’d killed the ImpSec agent he’d been impersonating in order to get the job at Vorkosigan house. He’d kidnapped the daughter and dwarf, but he hadn’t harmed them. Surely the emperor would appreciate these things and Solstice vids be damned, Alois rationalized in his desire to live.

“If you harm either of them then you would die the death of anyone who murders the Emperor’s voice or a member of the royal family. It would be a slow death by exposure,” the emperor said in a voice just above a whisper.

Cavilo looked the emperor over. Alois placed a hand on his plasma arc. That crazy woman had better not further incite the very man who had the authority to order the whole building firebombed.

“I want a meeting,” Cavilo snapped suddenly.

“We are meeting now,” the emperor observed.

“A meeting in person to discuss this hostage trade. You seem to want the two of them alive very badly. Surely you will meet with me to discuss an appropriate exchange” Cavilo stated.

So that earlier comment about doing anything to kill the emperor had been her bluffing, Alois decided with some relief. 

“There is no reason for Us to travel down to your level,” the emperor observed.

“A subtle slur about my parentage you –“ Cavilo’s jaw tightened but she controlled any possible outburst.

“Very well, should I come to see you?” Cavilo inquired.

The emperor’s eyes narrowed, he glanced away from the screen presumably at another monitor to watch his troop’s progress.

The Barrayaran troops had broken through the first line of defense. The second and third line was in place but time was on the emperor’s side.

He merely had to wait for his men to deal with Cavilo’s while simultaneously keeping her distracted enough not to release the virus. 

Though come to think of it the biological container wasn’t even in the room with them, Alois realized.

Cavilo had mentioned hiding it, but he hardly knew where. That would be a necessary bargaining chip when talking to the Barrayarans, and probably the reason she hadn’t told Alois where it was. She wanted to be indispensable.

Alois glanced over to the few crewmembers present to see if they were thinking as he was. All he noted was that one was sweating profusely, but none seemed to have their own hands on their weapons. None seemed prepared to do much of anything except stand by. Were they really that loyal to Cavilo or that afraid of her?

Surely they realized their comrades were getting mown down by the Barrayarans outside and that it was only a short time before they entered this final communications room. By then Cavilo would be out of choices and so would her crew. They would all be executed, Alois thought.

Cavilo seemed to sense this, and the extended silence.

She turned to one of her men, “bring up the dwarf. He can have a whiff of the virus. It would be interesting to see how it effects him, what with his obvious mutations.”

“Teratogenic injuries,” the emperor stated quietly.

Then more loudly, “very well… Cavilo, you will be allowed to come up to Us. Provided you do not attempt to bring any weapons.”

Cavilo scowled, “then how is this different from surrendering to you? I won’t do that again.”

“As you keep mentioning you do have a biological weapon hidden somewhere in this little fortress,” the emperor pointed out.

Cavilo glanced at her monitor, noted her troops falling back and nodded, “I will order a temporary truce, promise not to infect your dwarf or your little bastard and in exchange you will grant five of my guards and I safe passage to and from our war meeting. No weapons will be brought with us. Is this acceptable?”

“You may bring one guard,” the emperor stated.

“Are you that afraid of me still, Greg,” Cavilo whispered with a wicked smile.

“If you do not accept these terms I only have to wait for my men to reach you,” the emperor pointed out.

“You can also wait and watch your friend die. But then you’re used to that aren’t you darling? They have to keep you safe, like a dainty little flower that can’t handle the outside worlds,” Cavilo stated.

They stared at each other.

Surprisingly Cavilo broke, “I’ll accept your damned condition. One man then. But I want your word as Vorbarra that you won’t play any tricks on me.”

“No tricks from Us,” the emperor promised, almost reluctantly.

Cavilo cut the comm then.

Alois expected to be the one to go with her, instead she pointed at another who was propping up a wall. That or the wall was propping him up, was the fellow drunk?

Alois stepped in front of her, hand on his plasma arc as she moved to leave.

“You’ll tell me where the pathogen container is now. Someone needs to know.”

“In case I don’t come back and you need to beg for your sorry hide,” Cavilo inquired sweetly.

“Don’t test me bitch,” Alois growled.

Cavilo considered him. She gave in. 

“The biobox is two rooms down in the back of the storage room. Do not, under pain of death allow anyone back there,” she instructed.

Alois nodded and Cavilo left with her man.

Alois waited approximately three minutes, until the clicking of her boots on the hard concrete floor faded before he turned to the other men.

“You really expect her to save our arses,” Alois asked.

One shrugged.

“She’ll look after us if we look after her,” one murmured drowsily.

“Are you imbeciles on drugs? What the hell is wrong with you,” Alois shouted.

Surely they didn’t believe that drivel. Had they not been watching the mad intent in Cavilo’s eyes as she looked up at her former lover?

“It’s jump-sickness,” one said.

“Or planet sickness, I’ve never been on a planet before,” another said.

Alois looked more closely at these men. Cavilo had not reserved her best lieutenants here, she’d kept her newest with her. 

A horrible thought came in to Alois’s head. He moved to the door and palmed it open, checked the corridor in case the emperor had double crossed Cavilo and sent troops in, then moved to the storage room. He shoved his way in and through. He pulled back the large biocontainer that contained the virus. That should have contained the virus. The little red light which had indicated the container was sealed no longer shown. It was black now. The box had been opened, Alois realized with horror.


	16. Chapter 16

Cavilo and her man, after being carefully checked and re-checked for weapons, were finally allowed to see the emperor in his makeshift office less than half a mile back from the bunker Cavilo had been using. 

If she played her cards right she would be able to secure passage off planet long enough for the emperor to sicken and die. She’d infected her most loyal cadre with the virus and would be exposing the emperor and his men to it through her man Gustav who was quietly and unwittingly dying. His death would not be in vain if she could kill off the royal family and perhaps spring Vorshensky from prison. That or find some new paramour with a better ability to execute plans.

Cavilo wasn’t certain how much or how easily the viral particles would be shed by Gustav and how long she had to keep the emperor talking to make certain he would fall ill and die. Jameson had promised it would be a short time, but she couldn’t exactly ask him now since he was dead. She'd paid for him to be killed to maintain complete silence on the pathogen. 

Upon their entry into the emperor’s makeshift meeting room aboard one of his planet hoppers her heart sank. The room held no key advisers of the emperor, instead it held several stone faced armsmen in biocontainment suits.

The emperor, seated, wore one as well and looked coolly over at Cavilo as she entered. He did not offer her a chair, not did he stand.

“Really Greg, isn’t it customary for your people to offer a lady a place to sit,” Cavilo asked.

Damn, but how to get him out of that thing.

The emperor remained seated, but moved one hand to turn the monitor her was studying towards her. The Barrayarans, in face masks and full body protective suits were storming her compound.

“You backstabbing snake,” she snarled in shock.

She’d misjudged him it seemed, and badly too. What had happened to that honest boy she’d thought she could control? Seems someone hurt you badly enough and you folded just like me, Cavilo thought with a mix of satisfaction and despair. He had no honor after all.

“I had you both medi-scanned when you came in,” the emperor stated.

"What does that mean," Cavilo demanded.

"It means I know that you brought your pathogen in here. You agreed to no weapons and you went back on this deal when you tried to kill Us," the emperor explained.

“There’s no test that can show the presence of my pathogen. You’re just using that as an excuse,” Cavilo insisted.

“Not for your pathogen per se, but for fever,” the emperor stated nodding towards Gustav who looked dumbly back at the seated man.

Damn, so he’d been shrewder than she’d thought. It was no longer a case of infecting the man and returning to claim her empire, it was a matter of surviving his wrath. She remembered what an angry Barrayaran male was capable of.

“What are your intended terms of surrender,” Cavilo asked, her moth gone dry. Surely there was some abgle, some way out of this.

“Before? Perhaps house arrest on a planet outside the Barrayaran empire. Now that you’ve tried to kill me with this virus, infected your troops and quite possible mine… Do you have an cure or vaccine to this virus,” the emperor inquired.

“Is this a new deal for my freedom? What do I get if I tell you where I've hidden it,” Cavilo demanded.

The emperor studied her, “I suspect that you haven’t put this cure anywhere. Not when you are so cavalierly walking among your infected men like this. The cure, whether it be an inoculation or something more, must be inside of you already.”

“You’re wrong,” Cavilo stated. It dawned on her suddenly just what this man was capable of doing.

“Sadly, I know I am right, logically if not morally. We must have a way to protect Our people,” the emperor said. While his eyes hinted at remorse, his hands were steady when he waved in two physicians and a scientist, all in white lab coats. They brought with them a cart of medical instruments.

“You have grown up,” Cavilo murmured, she could not control the shiver that passed through her. 

 

“Keep turning it left,” Miles instructed.

“My left or your left,” Xiomara asked, hanging form the ceiling.

"The left that gets the damn thing loosened and off the ceiling," Miles said with exasperation.

Miles had insisted that some fellow named Tung had shown him how to escape form a prison cell by just using a bare fluorescent bulb. Xio was skeptical and he refused to explain further. But they needed to find a way out of this prison and fast. Who the hell knew what Cavilo was planning?

The door suddenly swung open.

Xio swore and dropped to the ground as a troop of men in white biocontainment suits entered.

“You want a piece of me you sons of bitches,” Xio snarled.

Miles grabbed her arm before she did anything drastic. 

“they're ours,” Miles stated.

 

“Please Lady Xiomara, we need to run some quick tests,” one of the men explained politely, nodding gratefully to Miles.

They did not explain what tests, it was known that they were looking to see if Miles and Xio were sick. Had they been infected after all? A collective sigh was emitted when results of fever and immune responses came back negative for the pair. Xio and Miles were then provided biocontaintment suits of their own before being escorted from the building.

“Did the virus get out then,” Xio asked in concern.

“Is the emperor alright,” Miles demanded.

“The emperor is waiting some distance away, he is well. The only casualties so far will be Commander Cavilo’s crew,” one man, of unknown rank informed the pair.

They met Gregor a little ways outside the base, also in a containment suit.

“You’re not dead,” Xio shouted enthusiastically as she hugged him.

Gregor’s eyebrows rose and a wan smile crossed his lips. Miles checked the sky. He estimated they had only been missing a few hours. So why did Gregor look so damned tired? Perhaps it was the lighting Miles thought, uneasily.

“I thought you had firm views on hugging,” Gregor noted as he hugged her back.

“I do, but, well, I mean it doesn’t count if it’s shortly after a near death experience,” Xio stated with some embarrassment.

“Where is,” Miles began, but the words died on his lips at a microscopic head shake from Gregor. Now was not the time to discuss Xio’s mother it seemed.

Gregor let his daughter go long enough to hug Miles as well before leading them off to one of a multitude of light flyers. 

“Was anyone infected, what happened,” Xio asked.

“The virus did get out. We have a biochemist who is currently creating or perhaps recreating a post-exposure vaccine for some of our ground troops who may have been exposed to the virus during the initial ground fighting. They are being quarantined but will hopefully be released soon. There is some work to be done to figure out exactly how dangerous this virus is to the local wildlife as well as household pets and humans nearby,” Gregor explained as he helped his daughter into the flyer. 

Only then did they dare to take off their containment suits.

“Do you think this will be resolved,” Miles asked still searching Gregor’s face.

Gregor nodded but turned the topic to how they’d been kidnapped.

“I knew Alois couldn’t have been a real ImpSec agent. No way one of ours would sell out for money,” Miles declared, seemingly vindicated.

“Yes, I suppose, at least we cannot besmirch a dead man’s honor by laying the kidnapping of a princess and Imperial Auditor at his feet. No the original Alois was killed and an imposter took his place after carefully studying his mannerisms,” Gregor noted.

“This is why we should include genetic testing after the return of agents from deep cover missions,” Miles insisted.

“We shall make it standard protocol,” Gregor agreed.


	17. Epilogue

“Finally,” Xio stated with a sigh as the hero’s brother was shot.

Xav was disapproving of this comment, “that was the hero’s brother.”

They were watching weekend vids again.

Xio looked confused and glanced at Gregor for confirmation, “what? I thought the ghem lord was the hero.”

“Of a Barrayaran vid series,” Gregor inquired incredulously.

Xiomara suddenly seemed to remember her history, “Oh, right. Well, I mean it’s really early to be paying attention to stuff like this. Besides, getting up early is bad for you. Just the other day my tutor was telling me about this ancient earth philosopher named Descartes who died after he was forced to get up early to tutor the queen of Scandinavia,” Xio declared.

“You mean the queen of Sweden, and technically Descartes died of pneumonia,” Gregor pointed out. 

“I mean the getting up early probably weakened his immune system so the pneumonia could kill him,” Xio suggested.

“I imagine that he would have died eventually even if he hadn’t been forced to wake up early,” Gregor noted.

Xio considered this a moment, “yeah I guess it’s like that Barrayaran saying ‘you can’t shoot a man dead if he’s born to hang’.”

“That’s a Jacksonian saying,” Gregor corrected.

A knock at the door caused Gregor to turn and look over at a nervous Alyosha. He sighed and put Petya down on the couch next to his brother before walking over to discuss the reaosn for the nervous palace guards arrival sotto voce in the hallway.

A moment later, the emperor poked his head back in, “Xiomara, could we have a word?”

Dutifully, Xio stood up and walked outside to talk to them.

“Do these men look familiar to you,” Gregor inquired neutrally showing her a vidpix of three young men.

Xio looked at the vidpix.

“Um… a little,” she admitted with some embarrassment.

“At customs they claimed to be married to Lady Xiomara. They are currently being held in limbo at the Vorbarra Sultana Jumpstation until you give orders on what to do with them sire,” Alyosha explained.

“Which one of them made this claim,” Gregor asked.

“All three of them, Sire,” Alyosha explained.

Gregor glanced at his daughter for confirmation.

“Nephaliya is an agrarian society that doesn’t practice primogeniture, so all children in a family inherit some land. Which means they get less and less land with each generation unless the sons and daughters practice polyamory.... so I have three husbands,” Xio explained while finding something particularly interesting to look at out the window.

“I see,” Gregor said.

Xio made a face, “they weren’t bad husbands… but being married is hard.”

Gregor didn’t say anything.

Xio threw up her hands, “I really like weddings ok.”

“Well that doesn’t mean you have to have one, couldn’t you just enjoy being a guest at one instead of the bride,” Gregor broke down and demanded.

Xio flinched and looked particularly contrite.

Gregor sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“I’m sure we will find a solution to this,” Gregor assured her.

He stepped back into the room where Xav and Petya sat watching vids.

“I have to step out a moment with your sister. I’ll send Mira down,” Gregor said.

Xav frowned at this.

Petya groaned, “you’re not going to bring back another sibling are you?”

Gregor certainly hoped not.

“It will be just fine,” Gregor murmured, though he wasn’t certain if he was trying to comfort his children or himself.


End file.
